HOME DEPARTMENT

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 5 August from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Amanat Ullah.

David Blunkett: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 22 October 2002, Official Report, column 230W.

Correspondence

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter of 19 June from the hon. Member for Torbay regarding Mrs. Shyla Selvasenthil.

Beverley Hughes: I wrote to the hon. Member on 6 August 2002.

Yarlswood

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the latest estimated cost is of the Yarlswood fire; and what proportion is anticipated to be borne by the Exchequer.

Beverley Hughes: For legal reasons I am unable to comment on the costs of the Yarlswood incident and who will bear responsibility for those costs.

Asylum Seekers

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what negotiations he has had with insurers concerning insurance cover for (a) Yarlswood and (b) the proposed pilot accommodation centres for asylum seekers; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: Officials have held discussions with Group 4 Amey Immigration Limited (GAIL) and their insurers. Tenders have yet to be issued for the proposed accommodation centres.

Asylum Seekers

George Mudie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been directed to Leeds, broken down by each Leeds constituency.

Beverley Hughes: As at the end of June 2002 the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) was supporting 1,485* asylum seekers (including dependants) in accommodation in Leeds.
	Some asylum seekers supported by NASS find their own accommodation and receive subsistence only support from NASS. As at the end of June 2002 there were 570* asylum seekers (including dependants) in receipt of subsistence only support in the Yorkshire and Humberside region (which includes Leeds).
	Figures are not currently available by constituency for those asylum seekers supported by the NASS.
	Statistics on the number of asylum seekers accommodated by NASS in each cluster area are available on the Home Office's Immigration and Asylum Statistics website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration 1.html
	Note:
	* Figures have been rounded to the nearest five. Figures exclude cases where the asylum seekers support has been ceased.

Asylum Seekers

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's policy is on the detention of pregnant women seeking asylum; and how many pregnant women are detained while their asylum applications are considered.

Beverley Hughes: Pregnant women are not normally considered suitable for detention under the Immigration Acts unless there is a clear prospect of early removal from the United Kingdom and medical advice suggests no question of confinement prior to this. In addition, women in the early stages of pregnancy may be detained briefly at Oakington Reception Centre as part of the fast-track asylum process. Statistics for the number of pregnant women detained under Immigration act powers are not available.

Asylum Seekers

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to ask the Home Secretary how much he has paid in non-domestic rates for each asylum detention centre in each of the last four years; and how much he will pay in 2002–03.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 23 October
	The table outlines the expenditure paid for Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) for each Detention/Removal Centre across the Immigration Service, in each of the last four years, together with how much we will pay in Financial Year 2002–03.
	
		Detention Centre Rates—1998 to 2002
		
			 Detention Centre/Unit  Non-Domestic Rates (NDR)/Contribution in lieu of Rent (CILOR) (Account Type: P406) 
			  2002–03 2001–02 2000–01 1999–2000 1998–99 
			  # # # # # 
		
		
			 Dover RC (Rochester) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Tinsley House 415,150.00 408,500.00 399,594.19 345,659.89 410,316.21 
			 Manchester Airport Detention Unit 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Haslar Detention Unit 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Yarl's Wood DC 299,345.00 107,329.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Dungavel DC 83,172.00 81,780.00 10,480.04 0.00 0.00 
			 Lindholme DC 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Oakington RC 240,350.00 0.00 170,477.37 0.00 0.00 
			 Campsfield House 25,127.50 0.00 49,729.37 55,611.72 49,196.90 
			 Queen's Buildings 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Aldington DC 18,850.06 15,774.44 13,278.71 0.00 0.00 
			 New Harmondsworth DC 1,165,042.00 528,963.62 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Harmondsworth DC (Old) 0.00 0.00 278,666.92 94,560.07 91,351.20 
			  
			 Totals 2,247,036.56 1,142,347.06 922,226.60 495,831.68 550,864.31 
		
	
	Source:
	BASS

Asylum Seekers

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to ask the Home Secretary if he will list each key performance indicator in the contract for the Dungavel asylum detention centre and the number of performance penalty points incurred for each key performance indicator by the operators of the detention centre in each year since it began operation.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 23 October 2002
	A copy of the contract with Premier Detention Services Ltd has been placed in the Library. Schedule G XPerformance Evaluation" of this contract contains all the information required.
	Information relating to the number of performance points incurred by each Removal Centre operator is commercially confidential and so cannot be disclosed.

Asylum Seekers

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to ask the Home Secretary what the cost to his Department has been of monitoring private finance initiative contracts for each asylum detention centre in each of the last five years.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 23 October 2002
	The Immigration and Nationality Directorate does not currently hold any Private Finance Initiative contracts for Removal Centres.

Departmental Websites

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the website links associated with his Department, including sites now dormant or closed, and indicating whether they are live, dormant or closed; what the start up costs were for each site listed; what the operating costs were in each year since start up for each site; which company hosted each site; what assessment takes place for each site; which company does the assessment; if he will place the assessment reports in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: Since January 2001 to the present the total design and development costs for the website are #1,024,228, whilst running costs (hosting and maintenance, excluding staff costs) are #551,986 to date.
	Sites are assessed in-house using market intelligence, consumer feedback forms and Webtrends software, and, as of August 2002, monthly figures are submitted to the Cabinet Office.
	The table shows the capital and running costs for all Home Office websites, excluding the Immigration & Nationality; Passports and Crime Reduction websites.
	The web plays an invaluable role in providing information to the public and stakeholders across the range of Home Office responsibilities, and we are fully committed to developing our service to the public through it still further.
	
		PQ–M 08533 HO managed websites costs
		
			 2001 Capital Costs Running costs (ex staff) Hosted by State 
		
		
			 www.policereform.gov.uk #3,000 absorbed by Core HO CCTA/Globix Live 
			 www.policecouldyou.co.uk #15,200 absorbed by Core HO CCTA/Globix Live 
			 www.secureyourmotor.gov.uk #100,000 #8,000 CCTA/Globix Live 
			 www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk #46,000 #10,800 CCGXM Live 
			 www.hmenterprises.gov.uk unknown absorbed by Core HO CCTA/Globix Live 
			 www.drugs.gov.uk #300,000 #200,000 CCTA/Globix Live 
			 www.sentencing-advisory-panel.gov.uk prior to 2001 absorbed by Core HO CCTA/Globix Live 
			 www.apc.gov.uk prior to 2001 absorbed by Core HO CCTA/Globix Live 
			 www.ask-the-football-fans.gov.uk prior to 2001 absorbed by Core HO CCTA/Globix Live 
			 www.fairersentencing.gov.uk #1,200 absorbed by Core HO CCTA/Globix Closed 
			 www.crimereduction.gov.uk #83,000 #48,000 CCTA/Globix Live 
			 www.ppo.gov.uk prior to 2001 absorbed by Core HO CCTA/Globix Live 
			 www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk #100,000 #15,000 CCGXM Live 
			 www.homeoffice.gov.uk #50,000 #75,000 CCTA/Globix Live 
			  #698,400 #356,800   
			 2002 Capital Costs Running costs 
			 www.policereform.gov.uk #15,000 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.policecouldyou.co.uk #1,683 #686 Globix/BT Live 
			 www.secureyourmotor.gov.uk #65,400 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.thinkyouknow.co.uk #25,000 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk #0 #15,000 Globix/BT Live 
			 www.hmenterprises.gov.uk #0 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.drugs.gov.uk #100,000 #50,000 Globix/BT Live 
			 www.surveillancecommissioners.gov.uk #25,616 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.probation.gov.uk/estates #30,000 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.technicaladvisoryboard.gov.uk #400 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.onlinemappa.org.uk #400 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.sentencing-advisory-panel.gov.uk #21,229 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.apc.gov.uk #0 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.ask-the-football-fans.gov.uk #0 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.crimereduction.gov.uk #0 #54,000 Business Info PubliLive 
			 www.ppo.gov.uk #0 absorbed by Core HO Globix/BT Live 
			 www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk #0 #1,500 CCGXM Live 
			 www.homeoffice.gov.uk #41,100 #74,000 Globix/BT Live 
			  #325,828 #195,186 
			  
			 Total costs to date: #1,024,228 #551,986

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug treatment and testing orders have been issued in the UK since their introduction; how many have been revoked for non-compliance; and what these figures are for Kent.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 21 October 2002
	The Drug Treatment and Testing Order was introduced under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and rolled out to courts in England and Wales on 1 October 2000, after successfully being piloted.
	Between 1 October 2000–31 July 2000 (which is the latest month for which complete figures are available) 8,071 orders have been made nationally, of which 2,369 orders have been revoked for non-compliance. This represents 29 per cent. of the total number of orders made. In Kent 196 orders have been made over the same period, of which 64 have been revoked for failure to comply; this represents 32 per cent. of total orders made in the area.

Mr. Ebrahim Solta

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the case of Mr. Ebrahim Solta of Leicester who was detained at Charles Street Police Station in October.

Beverley Hughes: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 15 October setting out the circumstances that led to the detention of Mr. Ebrahim Sotta at Charles Street Police Station.

Chief Charity Commissioner

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight of 19 September 2002, Official Report, column 40W, on what date a copy of the reply of the Chief Charity Commissioner was placed in the Library.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 22 October 2002
	A copy of the letter from the Chief Charity Commissioner was placed in the Library on 14 October.

Human Trafficking

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding has been given to agencies to provide support and assistance to victims of trafficking in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The White Paper ''Secure Borders Safe Haven'', published earlier this year, set out a comprehensive approach for supporting the victims of trafficking. We will make arrangements for their protection and support by providing access to safe accommodation and services such as medical care, legal advice, and counselling. We are working with the voluntary sector to set up these arrangements and hope to set up a pilot scheme next year, which will initially run on a trial basis for a period of six months so that we can evaluate its impact.
	The Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are running a number of prevention projects aimed primarily at raising awareness and educating potential victims (mostly women and children) of the dangers of being trafficked. We have given #3 million for the International Labour Organisation's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) programme in the Greater Mekong region (parts of Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam). This involves a number of inter-linked interventions to raise awareness, prevent trafficking and to support community reintegration for victims of trafficking. The United Kingdom is also contributing to the European Union STOP Programme, which provides support to Member State organisations responsible for action against the trade in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children.

Terrorism

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans there are to expand the UK and EU lists on proscribed terrorist organisations; what criteria must be met in order for someone to be added to the list; how often the list is reviewed; when the list was last updated; what discussions he has had with the (a) US Administration and (b) Governments in South East Asia and Australia regarding the proscription of terrorist groups.

David Blunkett: holding answer 22 October 2002
	I will be laying an Order next week for the proscription of the terrorist organisation Jeemah Islamiyah (JI).
	Under Part II of the Terrorism Act 2000, I have the power to recommend to Parliament the proscription of any organisation which is ''concerned in terrorism'', as defined in the Act, if I am satisfied that the statutory criteria are fulfilled.
	Under the Terrorism Act, an organisation is ''concerned in terrorism'' if it:
	commits or participates in acts of terrorism;
	prepares for terrorism;
	promotes or encourages terrorism, or
	is otherwise concerned in terrorism.
	In considering which international terrorist organisations should be subject to proscription, I take the following factors into account:
	the nature and scale of an organisation's activities;
	the specific threat that it poses to the UK;
	the specific threat that it poses to British nationals overseas;
	the extent of the organisation's presence in the UK and
	the need to support other members of the international community in the global fight against terrorism.
	The list of proscribed organisations is kept under constant review. There have been no changes to the list since the Order proscribing 21 international terrorist organisations which came into force on 29 March 2001. We remain in constant contact with the international community in the global fight against terrorism.

Terrorism

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been detained without charge under the recent anti-terrorism legislation, and in each case (a) what access to legal advice has existed, (b) whether criminal charges are anticipated, (c) the length of time spent in custody and (d) whether bail applications have been made; and if he will make a statement.

David Blunkett: Twelve foreign nationals have so far been detained using powers in Part IV of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security (ATCS) Act 2001. Eight were detained in December 2001, one in February 2002, two in April 2002, and a further one yesterday.
	Of the total detained, two have voluntarily left the United Kingdom. The other 10 remain in detention.
	All of those detained have had access to legal advice throughout the detention period. There is no limit to the number of legal visits the detainees may receive.
	The persons detained have been detained under a primarily immigration power. They are not being held pending criminal charges.
	My decision to detain these individuals was made on the basis of detailed and compelling evidence. That evidence will be examined by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission when the individuals' appeals are heard, as provided for under the ATCS Act. The Commission is equivalent to the High Court. It has the power to overturn my decisions.
	There have been five bail applications in total made by three individuals. The first bail application was made by one of the appellants in December 2001—this was declined and the appellant subsequently voluntarily left the United Kingdom (UK). An application by a second detainee was withdrawn after the appellant voluntarily left the UK. A third detainee made three bail applications—two of these failed and a third, scheduled to be heard in August 2002, was subsequently withdrawn by the appellant's legal representatives and has not been resubmitted.
	Where terrorism is concerned our paramount responsibility is to ensure public safety and national security. So long as the public emergency subsists, where a person is suspected of terrorism but cannot currently be removed and for whom a criminal prosecution is not an option, we believe that it is necessary and proportionate to provide for extended detention, pending removal.
	Given the nature of these cases, I am unable to comment in any further detail on individual cases.

Passport Fees

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on passport fees.

Beverley Hughes: The Privy Council has made an Order in Council, the Consular Fees (No. 2) Order 2002, which gives authority for a revision in passport fees. The revision will take effect on 21 November 2002. The fee for a standard 32 page passport will increase from #30 to #33 while the fee for a 48 page passport will remain at #40. The fee for amending an existing passport will increase from #18 to #22.50. The cost of a passport for a child will increase from #16 to #19. The additional charges for those making use of the guaranteed fast track and premium services available from the United Kingdom Passport Service (UKPS) counters remain unchanged at #30 and #45 respectively. The fee for a collective passport, for organised trips for schools and youth groups, will decrease from #42 to #39. The Order also increases fees for passport applications made overseas to British consular posts. These will be an increase from #49 to #54.40 for a standard 32 page passport, an increase from #60 to #65.20 for a 48 page passport, an increase from #29 to #34.70 for a child passport and an increase from #30 to #33.90 for an emergency passport.
	Passport fees are set at the level needed to cover the costs of passport issuing, including—in this case—the recovery of certain deficits accrued before 1999, and the costs of providing overseas consular protection services which are not covered by other fees. The changes set out in the Order follow a careful review of costs to ensure that the fee for each type of passport service closely reflects the production costs and past deficits accrued by that service and bears its share of the cost of consular protection services. In relation to the cost of travel abroad, the new fees still represent very good value for money.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Liquid Petroleum Gas

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many vehicles have been converted to use liquid petroleum gas in each of the last two years.

Brian Wilson: The numbers of new and converted vehicles on the road using liquid petroleum gas has doubled since 1999 as confirmed by the table below:
	
		
			  1999 2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			 Vehicles on the Road 13,000 39,000 65,000 Figures available in FEB: 2003 
			 Vehicles Converted 13,000 26,000 26,000 Figures available in FEB: 2003 
		
	
	Sources:
	The figures above were from the Liquid Petroleum Gas Association website updated on 11 October 2002.
	These figures compare with 3500 LPG vehicles on the road in 1998

Liquid Petroleum Gas

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how many businesses in Scotland are authorised to carry out conversion of vehicles to enable them to use liquid petroleum gas;
	(2)  what the locations are of the businesses in Scotland authorised to carry out conversion work on vehicles to enable them to use liquid petroleum gas.

Brian Wilson: The number of businesses authorised to convert vehicles for the use of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) in Scotland currently stands at twelve (12), and are located as follows:
	Perth & Kinross—1
	Moray—1
	Highland Region—1
	Edinburgh—1
	Ayrshire—1
	Aberdeenshire—1
	Scottish Border—1
	Dundee—2
	Glasgow—3
	The above information is based on data from the LPGA website which was updated on 11 October 2002.

Liquid Petroleum Gas

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what grants are available for individuals to convert vehicles to run on liquid petroleum gas.

Brian Wilson: The DfT sponsored PowerShift programme, administered by the Energy Saving Trust's TransportEnergy team provides grants towards the conversion of vehicles to run on LPG. These grants are available for vehicles up to five years old for which good quality LPG conversions are available.

Liquid Petroleum Gas

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what targets her Department has for the number of vehicles to be converted to run on liquid petroleum gas by the end of the current financial year.

Brian Wilson: The government has not set a target on the number of vehicles to be converted to use LPG. However it is working with the energy and transport industries, to promote, and raise the awareness of alternative fuels—in particular LPG.

Liquid Petroleum Gas

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to increase the number of businesses in Scotland able to carry out conversions to allow vehicles to run on liquid petroleum gas.

Brian Wilson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Fife, Central (Mr. MacDougall) on 7 May 2002, Official Report, columns 6–7W, in which I explained the incentives and the encouragement this department is offering to retailers on the sale of LPG.

MOX Shipments

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations have been received by HM Government in respect of safety and security concerns expressed in regard to the shipment of rejected plutonium MOX fuel from Japan to Sellafield; and what the cost is of the security provisions in place to protect the nuclear cargo.

Brian Wilson: Representations have been received by our Diplomatic Missions overseas and by the Department from hon. Members, their constituents, non-government organisations and others over safety and security over the return transport of MOX fuel to the UK from Takahama in Japan.
	Costs of compliance with regulatory nuclear security requirements are borne by the company. Details of those costs are a matter for BNFL.

Petro-chemical/Biotechnology Plants

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many petro-chemical and biotechnology plants in the United Kingdom have the technical capacity for dual civil/military use.

Patricia Hewitt: Petro-chemical plants in the United Kingdom are designed to process crude oil for the production of fuels, lubricants and other hydrocarbon chemicals. Although such facilities, given access to the appropriate raw materials, could potentially be used for the production of chemical weapons or their precursors, in the UK their only dual civil/military use is for the production of fuels, lubricants etc. which are required for normal military as well as civil purposes.
	Biotechnology facilities in the United Kingdom having the requisite safety infrastructure, equipment and starting materials may have the technical capacity to produce biological agents and other products which have dual civil/military use. Vaccines are an example of such products. Such facilities in the United Kingdom are subject to extensive regulation and inspection.
	The UK abandoned its offensive biological and chemical weapons programmes many years ago.

Renewable Energy

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects the 5 per cent. target of renewable energy contribution to electricity supplies to be reached; and if she will make a statement.

Brian Wilson: I would refer the hon. Member to my reply on 15 October 2002, Official Report, column 672W, to the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans).

Renewable Energy

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of electricity was generated from renewable resources in 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Brian Wilson: I would refer the hon. Member to my reply on 15 October, Official Report, columns 671–672W, to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker).

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what plans her Department has to include industrial kitchen equipment within the EU WEEE directives and restrictions on use of substances covering electrical and electronic equipment; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  which EU member states have included industrial kitchen equipment within the current EU WEEE directives and restrictions on the use of substances; and if she will make a statement.

Brian Wilson: The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive and the Restriction on the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical equipment (ROHS) Directive completed the conciliation process on 11 October. Following legal checking and translation the final texts should be presented to the European Parliament and Council for approval around the end of this year.
	The scope of these Directives is very wide. To fall within the scope electrical and electronic equipment must rely on either an AC current of up to 1000 volts or a DC current of up to 1500 volts to operate correctly. It must also fall within one of the ten broad categories the WEEE Directive outlines. These categories apply to equipment intended for use by the consumer or for professional use. On this basis it is likely that at least some industrial kitchen equipment will fall within the scope of the Directives. Detailed guidance on scope can start to be developed once the final text is available and we have consulted business further. The Department will also monitor closely developments in other member States to help ensure a consistent application of the Directives.
	We are not aware of any other member State who has taken specific decisions on the inclusion or otherwise of industrial kitchen equipment at this time.

Research and Development

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the 10 most successful commercial applications of research programmes funded by the European Union's first five framework programmes for research and development.

Patricia Hewitt: Business, large and small, competes fiercely to take part in EU Framework programmes and derive wider benefits from participation: for example in increasing research skills, helping to access international collaboration, alliances or markets, sharing project risks and costs, or helping to develop key industry standards.
	However, the research carried out in the EU Framework Programmes focuses primarily on longer term pre-competitive, collaborative research rather than leading directly to commercial products.
	The UK is strongly encouraging the Commission in its work to develop better ways to track and assess the impact of the Framework programmes. However, successful commercial applications often depend on bringing together a number of technological innovations from different sources (which might include, among other sources, elements drawn from the wide range of outputs from successive Framework Programmes) with the aim of meeting a particular user need. Under these circumstances, it is very difficult to compile a restrictive, ranked list of commercial successes.
	Nevertheless, it is possible to give some general examples where Framework programmes have contributed significantly to subsequent successful commercial applications: for example, underpinning development of GSM telephony (mobile phones), production of new generations of microchips, competitiveness of European Aerospace industry, improved energy technologies, and a much-improved understanding of life sciences and global climate change.
	The Commission provides details of all projects funded under FP4 and FP5 on its website www.CORDIS.lu together with a range of technology brokering services to assist with the further exploitation of EU funded research.

Mineworkers' Pensions

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many women pensioners the National Coal Board are waiting for their equal pay status to be reflected in their pensions; and what percentage of women pensioners this represents.

Brian Wilson: None. Neither the DTI nor the two British Coal pension schemes, the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme and the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme, are aware of any current cases where women pensioners are waiting for equal pay status to be reflected in their pensions.

BT

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what statutory minimums of service BT is obliged to abide by in standard telephone line provision.

Stephen Timms: The Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) requires BT to provide telephony services including the ability to make and receive national and international calls and calls employing facsimile or voice band data at a minimum of 2400bit/s at any place in the licensed area. The EC Directive on Universal Service and Users' Rights, due to be implemented in mid 2003, requires the connection to permit functional Internet access. Oftel will consult on the implementation of its provisions.

European Court of Justice

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received on the impact of the judgment of the European Court of Justice in Aventis Pharma Deutschland GmbH v. Kohpharma GmbH.

Patricia Hewitt: I have received no representations regarding the impact of the judgment of the European Court of Justice in Aventis Pharma Deutschland GmbH v. Kohpharma GmbH (Case C-433/00). The judgment was delivered on 19 September 2002, and deals with questions regarding the interpretation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2309/93.

Energy Review

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to publish her Department's analysis of the responses to the energy review consultation document.

Brian Wilson: The Government has recently completed its consultation on energy policy. It proposes to take the responses to the consultation into account in its work leading to a White Paper in the New Year.
	Reports on a series of seminars and conferences associated with the consultation are being published on the DTI's web site.
	The results of consulting the general public through focus groups, deliberative workshops and the questionnaire made available at the Tomorrow's World Live road show were published on 10 October. The questionnaire was also made available on the DTI's web site. The results of these responses will be published shortly.
	We have received over 2000 written responses to the consultation document. We expect to publish a summary of these responses shortly on the DTI's web site along with the individual responses that are already being published there.

British Energy

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meetings she has held with British Energy since September.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department holds regular meetings with British Energy.

British Energy

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what decisions have been taken regarding future financial support for British Energy and other energy companies; and what return taxpayers will receive on moneys given to British Energy.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 21 October 2002
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 15 October, Official Report, column 666W on the recent support for British Energy. No decisions have been taken and no commitments given on British Energy's long term future at this time.
	The circumstances in relation to other energy companies do not raise the same issues. The Government's overriding priority for nuclear safety in relation to BE does not apply.
	The Government has taken security over British Energy's assets for the credit facility agreement in the interests of the taxepayer. Full details of the agreement are commercially confidential unless and until it is made public by British Energy.

Export Promotion

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many country specific enterprise initiative schemes there are; and if she will list them and their budgets.

Patricia Hewitt: British Trade International has a number of country specific Trade Development schemes designed to help British businesses export for the first time or access certain new markets. The schemes are listed below together with the total budget allocation in Financial Year 2002–2003.
	
		
			  
		
		
			 1. Export Explorer: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden. #500,000 
			 2. Export USA #145,000 
			 3. Export Canada #15,000 
			 4. First Timers Programme: Brazil #70,000 
			 5. Enterprise Initiative: India #20,000 
			 6. Cuba Trade Development Programme #30,000 
			 7. Thailand British Business Mentoring Scheme #1,500 
			 8. UK–South Africa SME Partnership Programme #93,000 
		
	
	In addition, British Trade International also conducts campaigns to raise British exporters' awareness of opportunities in particular markets. There is a budget of #669,000 available in Financial Year 2002–2003 to support campaigns in the following markets.
	1. Australia
	2. Brazil
	3. Egypt
	4. Israel
	5. Malaysia
	6. Mexico
	7. Morocco
	8. Saudi Arabia
	9. Singapore
	10. South Africa
	11. South Korea
	12. Taiwan
	13. Thailand
	14. United Arab Emirates
	Since the Cabinet Secretary's Review of Export Promotion in 1999 and the subsequent establishment of British Trade International, the focus of Government support for trade has shifted from promoting overseas markets to British business to developmental work in order to improve the ability of companies to export and trade overseas successfully. There is also a greater emphasis on identifying and exploiting specific sectoral opportunities within overseas markets where they correspond to sectoral strengths in the British economy.

Trade Partners UK

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how frequently Trade Partners UK updates its website.

Patricia Hewitt: The Trade Partners UK website has approximately 16,000 pages of information and advice. The website is updated on a daily basis.

Regional Venture Capital Funds

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many of the regional venture capital funds have been established.

Nigel Griffiths: Currently seven of the nine Regional Venture Capital Funds are now operational and available to make investments into SME's with growth potential in the English regions.
	THE REGIONAL VENTURE CAPITAL FUND PROGRAMME
	The seven Regional Venture Capital Funds that are operational and available to make investments into SME's with growth potential are in the regions below.
	#30 million for the North West (Fund reached #35 million at first closing in April 2002. With subsequent closings the Fund now stands at #35.5 million)
	#15 million for the North East (Fund reached #15 million at first closing in January 2002)
	#25 million for Yorkshire and Humberside (Fund reached #25 million at final closing in July 2002)
	#20 million for the East Midlands (Fund reached #30 million at final closing in January 2002)
	#25 million for the South West (Fund reached #25 million at first closing October 2002)
	#30 million for the South East (Fund reached 22.56 million at first closing October 2002)
	#50 million for London (Fund reached #50 million at first closing in July 2002)

Oil Emergency Stock

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the national oil emergency stock is above the level required by international obligations; and if she will make a statement.

Brian Wilson: holding answer 21 October 2002
	At 31 August 2002 the UK provisionally had stocks equivalent to 76 days consumption of petroleum products, which is above the stock level of 67½ days worth of consumption of oil products that the UK is obliged to hold at any one time in accordance with EU legislation.

Broadband

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans her Department has to compile figures for broadband connections broken down by individual constituencies.

Stephen Timms: The Department has no plans for compiling figures for broadband connections broken down into individual constituencies.
	Information on broadband availability is depicted on a map of the UK and is available in the UK Online Annual Report (http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/oee/oee.nsf/sections/reports-anrep20011-images/$file/fig01.pdf).

National Minimum Wage

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to end the age differential in the operation of the national minimum wage.

Alan Johnson: National minimum wage rates are set by Government following recommendations from the independent Low Pay Commission. The Commission has been asked to produce a Fourth Report on the minimum wage by February 2003 and we will carefully consider any recommendations that they make on this issue.

Small Business

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many small business closures there were in each year since 1997 in (a) Scotland and (b) the rest of the UK.

Nigel Griffiths: VAT de-registrations are the only official measure of business closures. Business de-registrations are not available by size of business and there is no requirement for small businesses to supply the information separately.

Small Business

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was allocated to small firms throughout the United Kingdom using the Research and Development tax credit in financial years (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02; and if she will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
	For companies claiming the R&D tax credit for small or medium sized companies in 2000/01, the cost to the Exchequer was #75 million. Figures are not yet available for 2001/02.

Parental Rights

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on her plans to introduce (a) enhanced maternity rights, (b) new paternity rights and (c) rights for adoptive parents.

Alan Johnson: I have today laid before Parliament three draft affirmative Statutory Instruments which:
	amend existing regulations to extend current rights to maternity leave; provide for new rights to paternity and adoption leave; and establish the rates of statutory adoption pay and statutory paternity pay.
	These regulations, subject to their approval by both Houses, will be followed by negative Statutory Instruments setting the other details of the new statutory adoption and paternity pay regimes.
	These new regulations give detailed effect to provisions set out in broad terms in the Employment Act 2002, which received Royal Assent in July. The measures have been developed as a result of extensive public consultation over recent times, and are designed to provide significantly improved choices for working parents, to help them balance their work and family lives, without imposing undue burdens and administrative complexity on business.
	A Regulatory Impact assessment has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Uranium

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the non-military uses of uranium for which the metal is used in the United Kingdom.

Brian Wilson: I am advised that in the UK uranium ore is used to produce fuel for nuclear reactors. In its depleted form its main non-military applications are:
	transportable shielded containers for radioactive sources;
	aircraft counterbalance weights;
	piling equipment (civil engineering); and
	radiation shielding (hospitals, universities etc).

E-Commerce

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the world's e-commerce is estimated to be conducted in (a) Britain and (b) the European Union.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 23 October 2002
	Reliable global e-commerce statistics that would allow a comparison between the UK and global levels of e-commerce value are not available.
	E-commerce figures for the UK (excluding the financial sector) have just been released by ONS and show a good increase on previous figures:
	There has been a 42 per cent. increase in online sales up from #12 billion in 2000 to #17 billion in 2001—according to the latest ONS e-business survey.
	Business to consumer last year was #6.1 billion, up 53 per cent.
	Business to Business last year was #10.9 billion up 36 per cent.
	We understand that Eurostat will be producing figures for the relative proportions of electronic commerce within the EU early next year.

CABINET OFFICE

Rural Policy

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he last had bilateral meetings with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Secretary of State for Transport, to discuss regional co-ordination of rural policy.

Douglas Alexander: Ministers in the Cabinet have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues to discuss a wide range of issues. As with previous Administrations it is not this Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

DEFENCE

Training

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to ensure that training backlogs owing to unavailability of aircraft are cleared.

Adam Ingram: Training priorities are matched to operational requirements. In the approach to, or during operations, aircrew training is refocused to reinforce critical skills. Subsequently, tactical air training reverts to normal patterns, and support to exercises resumes. Those Field Training Exercises cancelled as a result of non-availability of air transport will, in some cases, have been refocused and other means of meeting the training requirement explored. This being the case, there is no backlog as such.

Sponsored Reserves

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how the monitoring selection of sponsored resource will operate; what guidelines his Department have produced to monitor their performance; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Sponsored Reserves are selected for their specialist skills by their civilian employer. However, in order to enlist as a Sponsored Reserve, they must meet appropriate entry criteria for the Reserve Force they are volunteering to enter into, taking account of the operational environment in which they are likely to work. The entry criteria are laid down by the appropriate Single Service. Once enlisted as a Sponsored Reserve, the civilian employer remains responsible for maintaining the individual's specialist skills, but the relevant Single Service trains and monitors each Sponsored Reserve in the military skills he or she will need on operations as a serviceman or woman. Having been called out for operations, the performance of a Sponsored Reserve is monitored by the relevant Single Service in the same way as for any other Reservist.

Joint Strike Fighter

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the specification for marinised carrier-based F35 aircraft will differ from that for land-based aircraft; and what the cost of marinisation will be.

Lewis Moonie: We have selected the Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the F35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) to meet our Future Joint Combat Aircraft (FJCA) requirement. The STOVL variant of JSF was designed from the outset to be able to operate in the maritime environment. Under current plans the United Kingdom will be able to deploy any aircraft from within the FJCA fleet to the new carriers, as all STOVL JSF are intended to be equally capable of sea or land deployment.
	The unit cost of the Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL) variant of JSF, which is under development to meet primarily the requirements of the United States Air Force, may prove cheaper than STOVL. As this aircraft is not capable of operating from aircraft carriers, it was not considered as a solution to the FJCA requirement.

Joint Strike Fighter

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what payments he has made in previous financial years in respect of the design, development and manufacture of the F35 aircraft.

Lewis Moonie: The assessment phase of the Future Joint Combat Aircraft (FJCA) programme (formerly known as Future Carrier Borne Aircraft) began in November 1996 and finished in October 2001. During the phase we spent some #127 million in resource terms, with the competing Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) prime contractors (Lockheed Martin and Boeing). In addition approximately #8 million was spent during Financial Year 2001–2002 as part of the current System Development and Demonstration phase, which began in November 2001.
	The year-by-year break down of expenditure is as follows:
	
		
			 Year Figure #M 
		
		
			 1996–1997 9 
			 1997–1998 47 
			 1998–1999 34 
			 1999–2000 21 
			 2000–2001 16 
			 2001–2002 8

Joint Strike Fighter

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what factors are taken into consideration in the assessment of the requirement of the numbers of Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.

Lewis Moonie: Our current planning assumption is that up to 150 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) will be required to meet our through life Future Joint Combat Aircraft requirement. However, no final decision on numbers has yet been taken and detailed work is currently ongoing.
	The decision will take into account a wide variety of factors including: the number of pilots required to man the aircraft on operations; the number of peace time flying hours required to train and maintain those pilots at combat ready status; expected rates of attrition; and the expected airframe life of JSF.

Future Rapid Effect System

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Future Rapid Effect System will enter service with the armed forces.

Lewis Moonie: No decision has yet been made on the in service date for the Future Rapid Effect System.

Firefighting

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Navy ships have been recalled from sea so that crew members can be trained in firefighting duties in the last 12 months.

Adam Ingram: No Royal Navy ships have had to be recalled from sea so that crew members can be trained in firefighting duties. However, the planned activities of the Fleet's ships have inevitably had to be re-prioritised due to the need to train and deploy personnel in anticipation of the Fire Brigades Union strike.

Firefighting

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many personnel from each service have been trained in firefighting duties in each of the past six months;
	(2)  which Fire Service roles service personnel will take on should they be required to cover firemen's duties in the event of a national firemen's strike;
	(3)  if he will make a statement on the nature and duration of firefighting training being undertaken by service personnel.

Adam Ingram: Armed Forces personnel will provide emergency fire and rescue cover during the fire brigades dispute. Whilst this cover cannot replace in full the service provided by professional firefighters, it will be designed to ensure that the loss of life which may be occasioned by the dispute is minimised, drawing on the proven effectiveness and dedication of the Armed Forces in serving the public. Cover will be provided by 827 Green Goddess crews, 331 Specialist Breathing Apparatus Rescue Teams, and 59 Rescue Equipment Support Teams.
	About 3,000 RN personnel, 7,700 Army personnel and 2,300 RAF personnel have been trained to provide this front line emergency cover. The training lasts up to five weeks, depending on the skill and role of the individual. Information on the monthly breakdown of these figures is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	The specialist teams will have all the skills required to use breathing apparatus necessary for fire rescue and the use of cutting equipment required to free people from damaged buildings and vehicles. Green Goddess crews are being trained to control fires from outside the building. Other training includes specialist driver training, first aid training and specialist equipment maintenance training.
	A further 6,500 personnel from all three services will be engaged in administrative, security, command and control and other duties drawing on normal Armed Forces skills and training. A total of more than 19,000 Armed Forces personnel will therefore be engaged in providing emergency cover during a strike.

Firefighting

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence from which Royal Air Force squadrons personnel will be taken in the event of armed forces personnel taking on national firefighting duties.

Adam Ingram: RAF manpower is being drawn from the following squadrons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 31, 33, 37, 39, 41, 47, 51, 54, 56, 70, 99, 101, 120, 201, 202, 203, 206, 216 and 2623, as well as from ground based Air Defence Headquarters and the Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Regiment. Manpower will also be drawn from units at Cranwell, Digby, Cosford, Brampton, Wyton, Henlow, Uxbridge, Innsworth, Halton, St. Athan, Sealand, Valley, Shawbury and Linton-on-Ouse.
	In common with all Armed Forces personnel deployed on firefighting duties, RAF personnel will only provide emergency cover, designed to reduce the loss of life which may be occasioned by the strike.

Firefighting

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what flying operations will be affected if RAF personnel have to cover firemen's duties in the event of the national firemen's strike.

Adam Ingram: The expected reduction in fire cover at RAF stations will result in some loss of flying hours. A prolonged strike will also have some impact on engineering support, which will adversely affect aircraft serviceability and also lead to some loss of flying hours.

Firefighting

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to call up reservists in the event of a national firemen's strike.

Adam Ingram: Reserves may be used on a voluntary basis in supporting roles during the strike. None have been called upon to provide front line cover.

Firefighting

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service men have had their post-operational tour leave cancelled as a consequence of preparing to train for firefighting duties.

Adam Ingram: In order to train for emergency firefighting duties, nearly a thousand personnel who have recently returned from the Balkans have had some or all of their post-operational tour leave delayed. It is intended that all post-operational tour leave will be taken as soon as these troops can be released. In the meantime, some leave is being taken as opportunities arise, within the constraints of preparations for firefighting duties, and the Ministry of Defence is actively pursuing options in order to reduce the impact to a minimum. Depending upon the duration of strike action, further personnel may also be affected.

Firefighting

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what provision will be made, and in what locations, for emergency fire services in rural Dorset in the event of a strike by firemen.

Adam Ingram: Emergency cover in Dorset, as in the rest of the country, will consist of a number of elements including Green Goddess crews, breathing apparatus teams, rescue teams (equipped with specialist equipment) and the police. The provision of Ministry of Defence emergency fire cover has been planned in consultation with the Chief Fire Officer and local police to minimise call-out response times and maximise the availability of the range of firefighting capabilities.
	Three temporary fire stations will be located in Dorset itself, at Weymouth, Poole and Bournemouth. The operational control centre, based at Winfrith, will be responsible for co-ordinating emergency response in the quickest time possible, either through the deployment of assets based in Dorset or by requesting assistance from other operational areas.
	The Ministry of Defence's emergency cover will not replicate the fire fighting capabilities of the Fire Service, but will minimise as far as possible the danger to human life. Service personnel will provide basic fire and rescue cover.

Challenger II

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on levels of Challenger II spares; and what surge capacity exists in event of conflict.

Lewis Moonie: Challenger II was purchased with an initial spares package and sufficient repairables to cover planned activity and anticipated operations. These holdings are supplemented by further purchases as and when required.

ISTAR

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what systems will take over the capabilities previously to be provided by the TRACER system.

Adam Ingram: These capabilities—the Land Commander's Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) requirements—will be met principally by a combination of the WATCHKEEPER Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and manned ground reconnaissance. We expect the latter to be provided by the ISTAR variant of the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES). Arrangements have been put in place to utilise key technologies developed in the TRACER programme in new programmes such as FRES.

ASTOR

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the ISD is of ASTOR.

Lewis Moonie: There has been no change in the approved In Service Date of September 2005, as reported in the National Audit Office's Major Projects Report 2001. The ASTOR programme is currently on course to meet this ISD.

AMRAAM Missile

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on which operations and deployments the AMRAAM missile has been equipped to (a) Tornado F3 and (b) Sea Harrier aircraft.

Lewis Moonie: To date, the Tornado F3 has not been equipped with the AMRAAM missile on operations.
	The Sea Harrier is equipped with the AMRAAM missile on Operation SOUTHERN WATCH, patrolling the no-fly zone over southern Iraq. The aircraft was also equipped with the AMRAAM missile during Operation DELIBERATE FORCE (Kosovo) and Operation DENY FLIGHT (Bosnia) between 1995 and 1999.

A400M

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current ISD of the A400M.

Lewis Moonie: The current In Service Date (ISD) for the A400M is 2010. However, as the Contract has not yet been activated, we will continue to keep the ISD under review.

HMS Fearless

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether representatives from the Brazilian (a) Government and (b) armed forces have visited onboard HMS Fearless in the past year.

Lewis Moonie: A team of five Brazilian Naval Officers visited HMS Fearless on 18, 19 and 20 June 2002. I am not aware of any Brazilian Government visitors to the ship during the past year.

Eurofighter

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he plans to purchase 232 Eurofighter aircraft; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister told the House on 10 July this year Official Report column 878W, there has been no change in the Government's commitment to the Eurofighter project, which has now been re-designated Typhoon.

Tornado F3

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the programme to maximise the effectiveness of AMRAAM equipped Tornado F3 aircraft; how much this will cost; and when he expects the work to be completed.

Lewis Moonie: Work is continuing on the AMRAAM Optimisation Programme which will optimise the effectiveness of the missile system on Tornado F3. The programme is expected to cost under #30 million and is on course to achieve In Service Date at the end of this month. Work on the programme, which will comprise a number of incremental capability enhancements, is due to complete on schedule in 2004.

Nimrod MRA4

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the in-service date is of the Nimrod MRA4; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The contractual in-service date for the Nimrod MRA4 is March 2005, though risk analysis suggests the date will be later in 2005. BAE SYSTEMS have recently acknowledged a delay in the programme for the first flight of Nimrod MRA4. The consequences of first flight slippage on ISD and potential mitigation action are being urgently examined by the Ministry of Defence and the Company. The results of this work will be available at the end of the year. It would therefore be premature to speculate on the impact of this slippage on the in-service date for the MRA4.

Apache Helicopters

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Apache helicopters are held in storage.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence has 11 Apache helicopters, maintained and supported in an operationally available condition, in storage at RAF Shawbury.

Apache Helicopters

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what sea trials have taken place in respect of the Apache helicopter operating from aircraft carriers and helicopter carriers.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence has not yet conducted sea trials in respect of the Apache Helicopter operating from aircraft carriers or helicopter carriers. We are planning to conduct appropriate trials on HMS Ocean in March 2004.

Primary Casualty Receiving Ship

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Primary Casualty Receiving Ship capability will enter service.

Lewis Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 September 2002, Official Report column 325W, to the hon. Member for Gosport (Mr. Viggers).

Veterans Agency

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter sent to Veterans Agency customers informing them of their options for receiving benefit from April 2003.

Lewis Moonie: I am making arrangements to place in the Library of the House a copy of the letter sent to Veterans Agency customers, informing them of their options for receiving benefit from April 2003.

Sellafield

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of scrambling an RAF aircraft following the breach of the air exclusion zone around Sellafield in August by a light aircraft; and what provisions exist to recharge BNFL for this security action.

Adam Ingram: Air Defence of the United Kingdom is a core Ministry of Defence task and there is no provision for charging others for this activity.

Iraq

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the decision to bomb command-and-control posts in Iraq was a joint decision of the US and UK Governments; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: Coalition aircraft conduct patrols of the Iraqi no fly zones in support of UN SCR 688, which demanded an end to Saddam's repression of his own people. The aircrew conducting those patrols are regularly subjected to sustained attacks from Iraqi integrated air defences. The United States and United Kingdom government are in agreement that the coalition pilots facing such threats should be allowed to respond in self defence against legitimate targets within the Iraqi Integrated Air Defence System posing a direct threat to them, as is permitted under international law.

Harrier

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons the ASRAAM missile is not to be equipped to Harrier (a) GR7 and (b) GR9 variants.

Lewis Moonie: We are currently upgrading our Harrier GR7 fleet to GR9. Shortly before such a major upgrade, it was not considered cost effective to carry out such substantial modifications.
	Consideration was given to equipping the Harrier GR9 with ASRAAM as part of the upgrade programme. However, as the Harrier GR fleet is already equipped with the Sidewinder AIM9-L for defensive purposes, and the purpose of the GR9 upgrade is to improve offensive capability, it was concluded that fitting of ASRAAM would not represent the best use of Ministry of Defence resources.

Armed Forces Strength

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if his Department (a) has and (b) has had a policy of trying to alter the number of members of the Armed Forces within specific age groups; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what annual targets he sets for the establishment strength of the Armed Forces with specific targets for different age brackets; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what recruitment and retention targets his Department sets for specific age brackets within the Armed Forces; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 22 October 2002
	The Armed Forces do not set recruitment or retention targets based on, or related to, specific age brackets other than specifying minimum and maximum age limits (and waivers may be obtainable for the latter category in certain instances).
	The annual targets prepared by the Armed Forces are based on detailed calculations of the numbers required to deliver military capability, in accordance with the Government's defence policy. Each Service prepares detailed manpower plans to provide the numbers and skills it requires in each branch and trade group.
	Detailed manpower planning by the Principal Personnel Officer in each Service aims to sustain military capability, and at the same time provide careers for their people that will satisfy personal aspirations and withstand competition in the labour market place. It has not always been possible to maintain ideal career structures in all parts of the Services through the rapid changes which took place in the last decade, and past failures to achieve recruiting and retention targets can create imbalances that last a generation. Occasionally the Services have to resort to targeted retention incentives in order to sustain operational capability, and length of service can be a factor in the targeting process. Before taking this course we carefully assess the impact of such incentives on all the people who may be directly or indirectly affected.
	The Ministry of Defence has not, and has never had, a policy aimed at trying to alter the number of members of the Armed Forces within specific age groups, although previous policies may have had this incidental effect. Our policies in relation to recruitment, career management and resettlement are based on the principle of maintaining sustainable experience profiles within each branch of the Armed Services. We see this principle as fundamental to operational effectiveness, and to attracting and retaining the people we need to deliver it.
	Currently, the Naval Service has a Three-Tier Commission for officers and RN ratings and RM other ranks serve on a time to serve basis ie 22 years. In the Army both officers and soldiers now serve on a Length of Service based career structure. For the RAF with the exception of a retirement age of 55, most control/exit points are linked to length of service and rank, not age.

RAF Training

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 1 July, Official Report, column 37W, on RAF training 
	(1)  how many additional instructors will be required to meet the tasks transferred from RAF Church Fenton;
	(2)  how many qualified flying instructors and ground instructors there are in the university air squadrons;
	(3)  how many staff at RAF Church Fenton will be subject to Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) legislation as a result of transferring the Joint Elementary Training School tasks to the university air squadrons;
	(4)  whether the cost effectiveness has been assessed of transferring the duties of the Joint Elementary Flying Training School at RAF Church Fenton to the university air squadrons.

Adam Ingram: No additional instructors will be required when the tasks are transferred from RAF Church Fenton as the Qualified Flying Instructors at the University Air Squadrons will absorb the task.
	The total number of qualified flying instructors at the University Air Squadrons is 69. However, the additional duties of the Squadron Commanders and Chief Flying Instructors reduce the available flying training time to the equivalent of 50. There are currently no ground instructors at the University Air Squadrons.
	No staff at RAF Church Fenton will be subject to Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) legislation. It is expected that their task will be absorbed into the existing arrangements for the University Air Squadrons. This means the task will be done in a different manner and location rather than simply transferring to another contractor.
	Contract negotiations are still underway. The actual savings will not be known until they are complete, but significant annual savings are anticipated.

Indian National Liberation Army

Syd Rapson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether membership of the Indian National Liberation Army disqualifies former Far East prisoners of war from eligibility under the Ex Gratia Payment Scheme announced on 7 November 2000.

Lewis Moonie: During the Second World War, the Japanese recruited a considerable number of servicemen from Far Eastern countries who they had taken Prisoner of War, to serve alongside them in the Indian National Liberation Army.
	The Ex Gratia Payment Scheme was established to recognise the circumstances of the captivity of those taken prisoner by the Japanese. Anyone who would otherwise be eligible under the Ex Gratia Payment Scheme but who joined the Indian National Liberation Army had removed themselves from that captivity which the Ex Gratia Payment Scheme recognises. Their inclusion in the scheme would not be compatible with its purpose and therefore those Prisoners of War who joined the Indian National Liberation Army are not entitled to any payment under the Scheme.

Deepcut Army Barracks

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the fatalities at the Deepcut Army Barracks.

Lewis Moonie: The deaths of Privates Sean Benton, Cheryl James, Geoff Gray and James Collinson at Deepcut remain subject to ongoing investigations by the Surrey Police, who are keeping the families informed of developments. The Ministry of Defence has given full co-operation to the police in the course of their enquiries, which will not be complete until the New Year. The MOD is unable to discuss the specific circumstances surrounding the deaths whilst the police investigations continue.

Gulf War

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what vaccination programmes were undertaken for UK armed forces in the build up to the Gulf War; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence paper: ''Implementation of the Immunisation Programme Against Biological Warfare Agents for UK Forces During the Gulf Conflict 1990–1991'' dated 20 January 2000, provides the information requested. A copy of the paper is in the Library of the House. It is also on the Internet at: www/mod.uk/issues/gulfwar/info/medical/bwa.htm and available from the Ministry of Defence's Gulf Veterans' Illnesses Unit (Freephone 0800 169 1645).

El Alamein

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which departmental Minister represented Her Majesty's Government at the 60 anniversary commemoration of the Battle of El Alamein in Egypt.

Lewis Moonie: I did. In addition to this, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces and I also attended the Commemoration in London.

Drug Seizures

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list drug seizures made by Royal Navy vessels since 1997; where the seizures took place; what the value of each seizure was; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Royal Navy vessel regularly deployed to the Caribbean conducts counter-narcotics patrols, working in conjunction with HM Customs and Excise, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and national authorities in the region. Whilst there were no interdictions in 1997 and 1998, there have been a number of successful operations in the Caribbean since then. These are as follows:
	
		
			 Date Ship Value Type 
		
		
			 May 1999 HMS Marlborough #1 billion+ Cocaine 
			 17 November 1999 HMS Northumberland #135 million Cocaine 
			 July 2001 HMS Coventry #80 million Cocaine 
			 21 July 2002 HMS Newcastle #1.5 million Marijuana 
			 22 July 2002 HMS Newcastle #42 million Cocaine 
			 5 Sept 2002 HMS Grafton #7.5 million Marijuana 
			 7 Oct 2002 HMS Grafton #65 million Cocaine

Arms Exports

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what systems are in place for monitoring (a) use and (b) onward sales of arms components sold abroad by UK companies.

Denis MacShane: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government focuses its efforts on assessment of potential end-use at the export licensing stage, including where needed through checks made by our Posts overseas. Carrying out effective risk assessment on end-users before making the export licensing decision is the surest way of preventing arms from falling into the wrong hands.
	As set out in the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 8 July, Official Report, columns 650–52W; where components are for incorporation and reexport to a third party, we will also have regard to the export control policies and effectiveness of the export control system of the incorporating country.
	Proactive monitoring of defence exports is only carried out in those cases of greatest concern. Our overseas posts have standing instructions to report on allegations of misuse of any UK-origin defence equipment. We take these reports into account in our assessment.

TREASURY

EU Enlargement

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the leaders of (a) Slovakia, (b) the Czech Republic and (c) Poland concerning their applications for EU membership.

Ruth Kelly: holding answer 24 October 2002
	The Chancellor of the Exchequer has met leaders from these countries on a number of occasions. For example he attended the Barcelona European Council earlier this year, to which Heads of Government from all the candidate countries were invited.

E-Procurement

Richard Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on e-procurement in Government purchasing.

Paul Boateng: holding answer 23 October 2002
	The Office of Government Commerce has successfully completed all its pilot e-Procurement projects. As a result valuable information has been gained about the practicalities and potential that e-Procurement offers. The Office of Government Commerce is currently developing its strategy to further deploy e-Procurement across government departments and agencies.

Departmental Schemes

Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the schemes and initiatives sponsored by his Department and its agencies which are not the subject of national roll out, showing (a) the authorities or areas covered by the scheme and (b) the budget of the scheme in the last year for which information is available.

Dawn Primarolo: This information is not held centrally.

Tax Returns

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria are used to separate errors in tax returns from deliberate late payments; and what interest rates are applied to these different categories.

Dawn Primarolo: No distinction is made between the categories for the purposes of interest rates.

Tax Returns

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what interest rate is paid on sums collected in taxes in error and in advance.

Dawn Primarolo: If the Inland Revenue issues a request for tax which is found later not to be due, the money is repaid with interest. The rate of interest depends upon the type of tax. For income tax and capital gains tax the rate is 2.5 per cent. For corporation tax and inheritance tax it is 3 per cent.
	Money paid in error or in advance of tax becoming due generally does not attract interest.

Tax Returns

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer upon what criteria the interest rates for the late payment of taxes are determined.

Dawn Primarolo: The criteria are contained in regulations which were laid before the House on 28 July 1989 (SI 1989 No. 1297). These regulations set down formulae for the calculation of interest rates. The basis of the formulae is the average of the base lending rates of 6 major banks.

International Debt

Ross Cranston: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the operation of vulture funds; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: Following requests from UK and other G7 partners, the IMF and the World Bank have comprehensively addressed the issue of creditor litigation in their report on the status of implementation of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. The report looks at vulture funds and other debt brokers purchasing debt in the secondary market and seeking recovery through litigation.
	10 HIPCs responded that they were facing litigation on credits held by commercial creditors and the governments of Iraq and Burundi.
	Some countries are burdened with several cases—for example Uganda is facing 6 cases of litigation and Sierra Leone five cases. A copy of the full Report is available on the IMF website at: http://www.worldbank.org/hipc/progress-to-date/Final—Full—Revised—Status—of—Implementation.pdf
	At the Annual meeting the UK continued to press for the establishment of technical assistance to help countries being sued by creditors.

Final Salary Pension Schemes

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received concerning the change in the number of final salary pension schemes; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: I receive representations on a wide range of pensions issues. We will publish a Green Paper on pensions later this year.

Final Salary Pension Schemes

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with employers about their plans to continue final salary pension schemes; what recent representations he has received concerning the abolition of final salary pension schemes by solvent employers; and what recent representations he has received concerning the possibility of companies becoming insolvent who access pension funds for purposes other than paying pensions.

Ruth Kelly: I receive representations on a wide range of pensions matters. All such representations will be taken fully into consideration when we publish the Pensions Green Paper later in the year.

Private Finance Initiative

Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total value of PFI and PPP schemes (a) completed and (b) signed are in (i) each of the regions of England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales.

Paul Boateng: A region-by-region breakdown of the total capital value of English PFI and PPP projects, both signed and completed, will be published in a series of forthcoming Treasury publications, entitled ''Public Private Partnerships: helping to deliver public services''. One such booklet is being prepared for each English region. The booklets will be published shortly, and copies will be deposited in the Library.
	The capital value of both signed and completed Scottish PFI projects, along with a departmental breakdown, is published by the Scottish Executive on their website. (The number of projects signed and completed is listed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pfi/facts—01.asp, while a department-by-department list is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pfi/project—list.xls.)
	A list of Welsh PFI and PPP projects, both completed deals and deals in procurement, including capital values, is published by the National Assembly for Wales on their website. (This can be found at http://www.pfu.wales.gov.uk/scripts/pfilist.asp.)

Private Finance Initiative

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what targets have been set for the OGCbuying.solutions trading fund for 2002–03.

Paul Boateng: I have set the following challenging targets for the trading fund for 2002–03:
	i. The Agency will facilitate at least #8omillion value for money improvements for central civil government over the 2002–3 year.
	ii. The Agency will continue to achieve levels of customer satisfaction above 90%.
	iii. The Agency will generate 8% Return On Capital Employed.
	iv. The Agency will reduce by 5% the ratio of internal costs over value for money improvements compared with the outturn for the same ratio in 2001–02.
	A copy of the Agency's Business Plan for 2002 can be found on their website: http://www.ogcbuyingsolutions.gov.uk.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Digital Radio and Television

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee if he will take steps to provide to hon. Members the facility of digital radio and television coverage from the nations and regions of the United Kingdom.

Michael Fabricant: The special annunciator televisions on the Parliamentary video network have 24 channels. The Information Committee reflects the views of hon. Members on how these channels should be used, and it considers individual representations. The radio and television programmes from which the selection can be made at reasonable cost are those transmitted by satellite to the London area. Channel 22 on the annunciator already carries the Welsh station S4C2. However, not all regional broadcasters make their local news programmes available by satellite, and the cost to the House of providing a specialised television landline link to regional television stations from Westminster would be prohibitive.

Catering Subsidy

Andrew Stunell: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, 
	(1)  what plans the Commission has to cap the subsidy for catering over the period of the Three Year Strategic Plan;
	(2)  what steps the Commission is planning to reduce the annual subsidy for catering set out on page 16 of the 24th Annual Report of the Commission.

Archy Kirkwood: pursuant to his reply, 21 October 2002, c. 6W
	I should have made it clear that we expect the Finance and Services Committee's consideration to arise primarily in the context of the three-year financial plans. The Commission is still considering the Report of the Catering Committee.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Focus Group Research

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what use she and her Department has made of focus group research since June 2001; if she will identify for each research project the topics covered, the person or organisation carrying out the research, and the total cost; and if she will publish the research on her Department's website.

Kim Howells: Since June 2001 my Department has made use of focus group research in 2 cases. In both cases the focus group research formed only one part of a larger project, but it is not possible to itemise this cost.
	(1) A quantative survey into consumer attitudes into digital television made use of 3 focus groups including two groups exploring issues of concern to the blind/partially sighted viewers and deaf/hard of hearing viewers. The survey was conducted by MORI and the total cost was #32,547. The research is published in full at http://www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk.
	(2) The Regional Data Framework project, which is aiming to identify data sources and methodologies for gathering information at both regional and national level in general support of policy development across the DCMS sectors, made use of a number of focus groups. The project is being carried out by a consortium of consultants lead by Positive Solutions and the total cost of the consultancy is #61,000. The findings from the Regional Data Framework project will be published on the Department's website http://www.culture.gov.uk in 2003.

Web Sites

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the web site links associated with her Department, including sites now dormant or closed, and indicating whether they are live, dormant or closed; what the start up costs were for each site listed; what the operating costs were in each year since start up for each site; which company hosted each site; what assessment takes place for each site; which company does the assessment; if she will place the assessment reports in the Library; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The information is as follows
	
		
			 Website URL Status Start-up cost Running cost/year Current ISP 
		
		
			 Communications Bill http://www.communicationsbill.gov.uk Live Zero 
			 (in house) * UUNET 
			 Communications White Paper http://www.communicationswhitepaper.gov.uk Dormant #13,000 * UUNET 
			 Culture Online http://www.cultureonline.gov.uk/ Live #24,500 #2,000 01/02 UUNET 
			 #2,000 02/03 UUNET 
			 DCMS (main site) http://www.culture.gov.uk Live #81,134 * UUNET 
			 DCMS (lottery site) http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk Live #60,000 * UUNET 
			 Digital Television http://www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk Live Zero 
			 (in house) * UUNET 
			 Gambling Review** http://www.gamblingreview.gov.uk Live Zero 
			 (in house) #200 01/02 BTIgnite 
			 #200 02/03 BTIgnite 
			 Golden Jubilee** http://www.goldenjubilee.gov.uk Live #200,000 #25,000 01/02 Globix 
			 #12,000 02/03 UUNET 
			 Golden Jubilee Media Site http://www.media.goldenjubilee.gov.uk Dormant Zero 
			 (In house) #12,000 1yr only UUNET 
			 Government Art Collection http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/home/index.asp Live #30,500 * UUNET 
		
	
	Notes:
	* Running costs for these websites are covered under one contract at #51,000 per annum.
	** Costs of the Golden Jubilee and Gambling Review websites were met by the Home Office and later transferred to DCMS.
	No assessment has been made of sites by any company.

Sport England

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects to appoint a new chairman of Sport England.

Richard Caborn: We expect to appoint a new Chair of Sport England by the end of November.

Sport England

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the spending review for Sport England for the period 2003 to 2006 will be published; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: An announcement will be made shortly.

Tourism

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the resources, role and responsibilities of regional development agencies in respect of tourism.

Kim Howells: An announcement about the Regional Development Agencies' tourism responsibilities will be made to the House shortly. The RDAs have a vital role to play in the delivery of our programme of strategic reform of the tourism industry in England. They are being given new responsibilities and resources and it is important that they achieve a balance between meeting regional priorities and achieving national coordination and consistency, where appropriate.

Lottery Grants

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the projects awarded funding by the New Opportunities Fund Green Spaces and Sustainable Communities Programme since its establishment and the level of funding for each.

Richard Caborn: Under the Green Spaces and Sustainable Communities initiative, the New Opportunities Fund will deliver projects worth #125 million across the United Kingdom through 11 award partners. Hitherto, over #40 million has been committed to 1,265 projects under this initiative. The following table details the number of projects funded, and the amount committed so far, by each award partner.
	
		
			 Awards to date (Oct 2002) under the New Opportunities   
			  Awards (#s) Number of Projects 
		
		
			 ENGLAND   
			 Barnardo's 2,933,620 50 
			 BTCV 874,572 114 
			 The Countryside Agency 1,939,294 136 
			 English Nature 4,946,078 111 
			 RSNC 7,635,883 239 
			 Sustrans 5,043,000 57 
			 Sport England 5,843,692 337 
			 By region: North East   
			 Barnardo's 334296 5 
			 BTCV 130181 15 
			 English Nature 998772 16 
			 RSNC 420210 15 
			 Countryside Agency 105986 17 
			 Sport England 782820 46 
			 Sustrans 938000 10 
			  
			 North West   
			 Barnardo's 552759 9 
			 BTCV 77736 9 
			 English Nature 402817 9 
			 RSNC 1204865 37 
			 Countryside Agency 548157 28 
			 Sport England 800595 61 
			 Sustrans 1095000 10 
			  
			 Yorks & Humb   
			 Barnardo's 556303 11 
			 BTCV 95948 12 
			 English Nature 447930 15 
			 RSNC 1180690 39 
			 Countryside Agency 236044 11 
			 Sport England 387663 27 
			 Sustrans 362000 5 
			  
			 East Midlands   
			 Barnardo's 16170 3 
			 BTCV 28926 4 
			 English Nature 445400 8 
			 RSNC 940448 29 
			 Sport England 378599 34 
			 Sustrans 178000 2 
			  
			 West Midlands   
			 Barnardo's 281874 3 
			 BTCV 60401 7 
			 English Nature 711279 13 
			 RSNC 820616 19 
			 Countryside Agency 293449 18 
			 Sport England 1103408 35 
			 Sustrans 670000 4 
			  
			 East   
			 Barnardo's 89000 1 
			 BTCV 40511 6 
			 English Nature 170550 4 
			 RSNC 358460 11 
			 Countryside Agency 71838 13 
			 Sport England 298560 26 
			 Sustrans 715000 12 
			  
			 London   
			 Barnardo's 459637 9 
			 BTCV 151755 18 
			 English Nature 602300 12 
			 RSNC 698285 22 
			 Countryside Agency 62400 3 
			 Sport England 1215698 43 
			 Sustrans 210000 5 
			  
			 South East   
			 Barnardo's 101100 2 
			 BTCV 172899 25 
			 English Nature 502998 17 
			 RSNC 529939 18 
			 Countryside Agency 74500 8 
			 Sport England 644889 44 
			 Sustrans 95000 3 
			 South West   
			 Barnardo's 542481 7 
			 BTCV 116211 18 
			 English Nature 664032 17 
			 RSNC 1482327 49 
			 Countryside Agency 305585 14 
			 Sport England 235000 21 
			 Sustrans 780000 6 
			  
			 NORTHERN IRELAND   
			 NIHE 500,725 52 
			  
			 SCOTLAND   
			 Fresh Futures 704,368 35 
			 SLF 8,144,698 76 
			  
			 WALES   
			 WCVA 1,546,588 58 
			  
			 UK Totals 40112518 1.265 
		
	
	Comprehensive lists of every project in every area are not yet available, but further information on schemes in a particular area can be obtained from the New Opportunities Fund on request.

British Museum

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what help is being offered by her Department to the British Museum to clear its deficit.

Kim Howells: holding answer 21 October 2002
	To avoid a deficit the British Museum is carrying out a programme of reform and modernisation. We fully support the Museum in this endeavour and we have made arrangements to enable the Museum to fund this programme from the resources available to it.

British Museum

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of the artifacts and collections in the British Museum were maintained at the right environmental condition in (a) 1998–99, (b) 1999–2000, (c) 2000–01, (d) 2001–02 and (e) 2002–03 to date.

Kim Howells: The information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Year 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 
		
		
			 Number of items held at the correct environmental conditions (in millions) 6.2m 6.5m 6.7m 6.8m 6.9m 
			 Percentage of items out of total collection held at the correct environmental conditions 79% 83% 85% 87% 88%

Manchester Museum of Science and Industry

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the spend per head was on (a) visitor catering, (b) retail and (c) the Super X Simulator in the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester in (i) 2000–01, (ii) 2001–02 and (iii) 2002–03 to date.

Kim Howells: The relevant figures are as set out in the following table, based on total visitors of 287,814 in 2000–01, 389,262 in 2001–02, and 220,226 between April and August 2002:
	
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 to end August 
			  # # # 
		
		
			 Visitor catering 0.74 0.76 0.75 
			 Retail 0.57 0.77 0.68 
			 Super X Simulator 0.16 0.19 0.20

National Gallery

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many paintings were (a) lost, (b) stolen and (c) severely damaged while on loan from the National Gallery in (i) 2000 and (ii) 2002 to date.

Kim Howells: No paintings have been lost, stolen or severely damaged while on loan from the National Gallery from 2000 to date.

Museum of London

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much time the average visitor spent in the (a) World City Galleries and (b) London Before London exhibition in the Museum of London in (i) 2000–01, (ii) 2001–02 and (iii) 2002–03 to date.

Kim Howells: The World City Galleries opened at the Museum of London on 7 December 2001. According to data compiled by the Museum in a survey of 60 visitors carried out between the end of February and the middle of April 2002, the average time spent per visitor in the Galleries was 26 minutes.
	Figures for the London Before London exhibition are as yet unavailable, as the exhibition opened on 18 October 2002. The Museum plan to undertake a survey of average time spent by visitors to London Before London in the exhibition in the next few months.

Beacon School, Falmouth

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received regarding the funding of Beacon School, Falmouth under the Space for Sports and Arts in Schools programme.

Richard Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has received representations on this issue from my hon. Friend, and from representatives of Cornwall County Council, in June and July this year.
	The Space for Sport and Arts (SSArts) programme is targeted at Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in areas of social, economic, sporting and cultural deprivation. It is for LEAs participating in the scheme, of which Cornwall County Council is one, to decide which schools in their area to select for involvement in the programme.

UK World Class Performance Programme

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) gold, (b) silver and (c) bronze medals have been won at major international championships by (i) teams and athletes supported via the UK World Class Performance Programme in (A) able-bodied and (B) disabled events in (1) 2000, (2) 2001 and (3) 2002 to date.

Richard Caborn: The data required is not readily available. I will write to the hon. Member with detailed information as soon as possible.

SCOTLAND

Consultancies

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will list external (a) public relations/communications companies, (b) advertising and marketing companies, (c) management consultancies, (d) accountancy companies, (e) banking firms, (f) individual consultants and (g) other specialist consultancies used by her Department since June 2001; what actions those consultancies/companies have performed within her Department; and what costs have been incurred through use of these consultancies/companies.

Helen Liddell: Since June 2001, my department has employed the following communications and marketing companies.
	Scope Productions
	Glass Page
	Locofoco
	Astron
	Kemistry
	Faulds
	These companies were engaged to design and produce public information material of various types for my department's external affairs at an aggregate cost to date of #130,000.
	My department has also used one individual consultant to advise on devolution systems in European countries, at a cost of #6,100.

Health

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in the last year for which her Department had responsibility for health in Scotland, what funding was made available to health authorities which include populated islands to recognise and assist in meeting patients' costs of travel for mainland treatment; what assistance was made available by each health authority to patients travelling for treatment; and if she will list the health authorities which included populated islands, showing their expenditure per person on those islands on assistance with travel for treatment.

Anne McGuire: This has been a devolved matter since 1 July 1999. Details of expenditure in 1998–99 by each health board on the two patient travelling expenses schemes are as follows:
	
		
			  Means Tested Scheme Highlands & Islands Scheme 
			  # # 
		
		
			 Argyll & Clyde 89,068 521,744 
			 Ayrshire & Arran 28,095 3,383 
			 Borders 22,694 0 
			 Dumfries & Galloway 72,465 0 
			 Fife 41,450 0 
			 Forth Valley 92,796 0 
			 Grampian 204,636 11,388 
			 Greater Glasgow 260,987 0 
			 Highland 239,430 284,599 
			 Lanarkshire 37,812 0 
			 Lothian 2,629 0 
			 Orkney 952 538,420 
			 Shetland 22,245 1,025,582 
			 Tayside 0 0 
			 Western Isles 16,187 992,612 
		
	
	Reimbursement made under the Highlands and Islands Scheme includes costs incurred by patients from populated islands travelling to mainland hospitals for treatment.
	Health boards which include populated islands are Argyll & Clyde, Ayrshire & Arran, Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles.
	Expenditure per person for assistance with travelling expenses is #27.19 in Orkney, #45.52 in Shetland and #35.72 in Western Isles. Separate figures are not available for the populations of the islands in Argyll & Clyde and Ayrshire & Arran.

Energy

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland 
	(1)  what representations she has made to Ofgem with regards to the proposed changes to the auction system for capacity to the National Transmission System at St. Fergus;
	(2)  what representations she has made to the Minister of Trade and Industry with regards to the proposed changes to the auction system for capacity to the National Transmission System at St. Fergus.

Helen Liddell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer he received from my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Energy & Construction, on 19 September, Official Report, column 160W.

Expenditure

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was given to the (a) Scotland Office and (b) Scottish Executive in each year since 1997.

Helen Liddell: The Scotland Office and the Scottish Executive were established on 1 July 1999. Since that date expenditure by the Scotland Office has been as follows:-
	
		
			 #m #m #m #m 
		
		
			 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 
			 (estimate) 
			 4.128 6.758 6.916 7.442 
		
	
	The grant paid to the Scottish Executive over the same period was:-
	
		
			 #m #m #m #m 
		
		
			 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 
			 (estimate) 
			 9,647.5 14,097.1 14,989.6 16,556 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures for 1999–2000 are for the period 1 July 1999– 31 March 2000.
	2. Scotland Office figures also include expenditure by the Boundary Commission for Scotland.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Sentencing

Andrew Turner: To ask the Solicitor-General, what steps she is taking to publicise the public's right to seek review of unduly lenient sentences.

Harriet Harman: The Attorney-General or I can refer a case to the Court of Appeal if we regard it as unduly lenient.
	The prosecutor at court will, if the sentence is very lenient, advise the victim or relatives that they can ask us to refer.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Solicitor General what role the Crown Prosecution Service has in prosecuting anti-social behaviour orders.

Harriet Harman: An Antisocial Behaviour Order is normally obtained by the police or a local authority. The application is made before a magistrate's court, exercising its duties as a civil court, or the County Court.
	A breach of an Antisocial Behaviour Order constitutes a criminal offence. The CPS is responsible for the review and prosecution of allegations of breach of ASBOs.
	In 2001 there were 85 prosecutions for breaches of ASBOs. Of these, 69 led to a conviction, 9 were dismissed and 7 not separately dealt with. The conviction rate for breaches, taken at its lowest, is thus 81 per cent. (69 out of 85 cases)

Prosecutions

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Solicitor General if she will make a statement on the proportion of prosecutions abandoned before trial in the last year.

Harriet Harman: During the year ending June 2002, 20 per cent. of all magistrates' courts proceedings handled by the Crown Prosecution Service were abandoned before trial, together with a further 17.4 per cent. of all proceedings in the Crown Court.
	These figures include several distinct types of outcome. The magistrates' courts figure comprises of discontinuances; cases in which the defendant agreed to be bound over without a trial taking place; and cases which could not proceed because the defendant could not be traced by the police, or had died, or was found unfit to plead.
	The Crown Court figure comprises of cases dropped before a jury was sworn, resulting in a formal verdict of an ordered acquittal; bind overs; and, again, cases which could not proceed because the defendant could not be traced, or had died or been found unfit to plead.

Appeals

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Solicitor General what discussions she has had with the Crown Prosecution Service about circumstances when appeal against sentence would be appropriate.

Harriet Harman: I discuss questions of sentencing regularly with the CPS. The Attorney-General and I have the power under sections 35 and 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to refer sentences passed in the Crown Court for a limited number of serious offences to the Court of Appeal for review, if it appears that the sentence passed is unduly lenient.

Street Crime

Ian Lucas: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on the role of the Crown Prosecution Service in the Government's street crime initiative.

Harriet Harman: The Crown Prosecution Service is playing a central role in the street crime initiative. It has developed with the police a Premium Service which provides experienced prosecutors to:
	give the police advice during the investigation to strengthen the case and target resources effectively
	advise on the choice of charge so that it is right first time, and
	working closely with the police after the court process has begun to make sure that the case is in the best possible state by the time that the trail takes place
	Particular attention is being paid to the needs street crime victims and witnesses, in particular providing them with the necessary information and support to see them through the judicial process.

TRANSPORT

Aviation

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what timetable has been set for publishing an Aviation White Paper following the end of the Future Development of Air Transport consultation.

David Jamieson: As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said in his Statement to the House in July, we will publish the White Paper next year.

Aviation

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total cost was of producing The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: A National Consultation Document.

David Jamieson: The national consultation on The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom produced a suite of seven detailed consultation documents and seven summary documents. The approximate cost of producing these documents is #556,000.

Aviation

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost was of employing NOP to gauge public opinion on The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: A National Consultation Document.

David Jamieson: The consultation does not end until 30 November. Until then it is not possible to say how much assistance analysing responses NOP will provide.

Traffic Levels

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research (a) has been conducted since 1997 and (b) is planned by or for his Department comparing forecast and actual traffic levels for (i) the building of new roads and motorways and (ii) the widening of existing roads and motorways; and if he will place the documentation in the Library.

David Jamieson: A programme of comparisons of forecast and actual traffic levels on new trunk road schemes was started in 1981. The latest report on this monitoring work, the tenth in the series, was published in May 2001. I am arranging for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
	More detailed post implementation studies have been done on 19 projects; 6 of these have been carried out since 1997. Reports on these studies will be published in the next few months and will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
	Since August 2001 a new system of project evaluation has replaced the two systems described above. It covers all projects over #1m and it is planned to extend this to smaller projects next year. It involves gathering data on traffic, journey times and accidents, before opening and one and five years after. In addition, an analysis of changes in flows on surrounding local roads at the time of opening is usually carried out for schemes over #5m.

Midlands Airport

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many letters he has received (a) in support of and (b) in opposition to the proposal for a new airport between Rugby and Coventry.

David Jamieson: We have not yet analysed all the responses but will produce a summary after the consultation ends on 30 November.

Radioactive Materials

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the International Atomic Energy Agency Transas Mission to the United Kingdom this year in respect of the transport of nuclear materials.

David Jamieson: The International Atomic Energy Agency carried out a Transport Safety Appraisal Service (TranSAS) to the UK, at our request, during the period 9 to 21 June this year. The appraisal team, consisting of fourteen participants and observers from several countries and international bodies, carried out an examination of the regulatory and enforcement infrastructure in the United Kingdom relating to the transport of radioactive material. The IAEA's Report was published on its web site on 6 September 2002 and may be found at http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/. I will place hard copies in the House Libraries as they become available.
	The report's three main recommendations relate to:
	the manner in which the UK competent authority documents some of its reviews and assessments;
	the need to establish a more systematic approach to the review of package designs used to transport smaller quantities of radioactive material; and
	the need to enhance inspection and enforcement activities for minor consignors and consignors of mobile sources.
	The report also contains 21 Suggestions and 15 Citations of Good Practice.
	The UK has reviewed the Recommendations and Suggestions and updated procedures as necessary.

Modal Shift

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the studies and research used in support of the claim made in Chapter 1, 1.1 of his Department's publication using the Planning Process to Secure Travel Plans that (a) a 30 per cent. Modal shift in transport is a possibility and (b) that 10 to 20 per cent. has been achieved.

David Jamieson: These assessments of the potential for modal shift are based on research carried out in the preparation of our guidance document ''Making travel plans work: Lessons from UK case studies'' which we published in August. The research report and case study summaries were published separately.
	I am arranging for these documents to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Modal Shift

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what scope for modal shift has been identified in each of the multi-modal studies that have reported to date.

David Jamieson: The scope for modal shift varies considerably due to differences in the characteristics of the study areas. In broad terms studies focused on urban areas have identified greater scope for modal shift than studies examining inter-urban corridors.

Eurostar

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans exist for the continued use of the Waterloo terminal for Eurostar services after Phase II of the CTRL has been fully completed; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The development of plans for the continued use of Waterloo International terminal for Eurostar services following the completion of CTRL Section 2 is the responsibility of Eurostar (UK) Ltd (EUKL) in conjunction with its Eurostar partners. EUKL has not yet reached any firm decisions on this matter.

EU Railway Package

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list statutory instruments which have been laid before Parliament in response to the First Railway Package introduced through the European Commission; and if he will indicate the date laid in each case.

David Jamieson: None as yet.

Traffic Area Network

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what discussions his Department has had, and what representations have been received, on the TAN21 self service online service for road hauliers to update operators licences;
	(2)  if he will list the percentage changes in electronic utilisation by customers of the Transport Area Network; and what assessment has been made;
	(3)  when new e-commerce services for the transport industry under the auspices of the Transport Area Network were introduced; what changes there have been to the timetable for the introduction and nature of this scheme; and what assessment has been made of its progress.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on Monday 21 October 2002, Official Report, columns 20–21W.
	The Department has had informal discussions with the road haulage industry trade bodies who support this project. No representations have been received. The Traffic Area Network is piloting the use of electronic self-service, the aim being to have 20 per cent. utilisation within 12 months of going live.
	27 per cent. of recipients of Traffic Commissioners' Applications and Decisions and 26 per cent. of recipients of Notices & Proceedings now receive them by e-mail. They are also available on the TAN website www.tan.gov.uk.

Railway Industry

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made by (a) his Department and (b) the Strategic Rail Authority of the impact of the Competition Act 1998 upon the railway industry.

David Jamieson: None

Railway Industry

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many complaints have arisen against railway businesses in each year since 1998 under the terms of the Competition Act 1998.

David Jamieson: Since the Competition Act 1998 came into force on 31 March 2000, the Regulator has considered the following numbers of cases concerning services relating to railways arising from complaints from individuals, companies, groups or representatives of groups:
	2000–2001 7 cases
	2001–2002 5 cases
	2002–to date 3 cases

Transport 10-year Plan

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much private investment has been (a) spent and (b) procured for the railways under the 10-year plan; how much is projected by 2004–05; and what is projected for the 10 year plan (i) at today's prices and (ii) at outturn cost.

David Jamieson: Table 5.2 of ''National Rail Trends'' published by the Strategic Rail Authority, every three months, sets out investment in the rail industry. In 2001–2 which is the first full year of the 10 year plan period, the rail industry attracted total investment of #4070m of which #3386m was private investment.

Transport 10-year Plan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the estimated start-dates for construction of each of the projects in the 10-year plan.

David Jamieson: The 10 Year Plan provides an overarching investment framework. While it included some illustrative outputs to show the scale and type of projects that could be delivered, it is for the key Delivery Agencies involved to determine how that investment is ultimately deployed to deliver the Plan targets.

Transport 10-year Plan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much of the public expenditure on transport listed in the 10-year plan remains uncommitted.

David Jamieson: This information will be published in due course in the report on the 10 Year Plan setting out progress to date.

Central Railway

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has received the report he requested from the SRA on the Central Railway Project; and when he plans to publish the SRA's conclusions.

David Jamieson: holding answer 21 October 2002
	I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 23 October to the hon. Member for Chesham & Amersham (Mrs. Gillan).

Central Railway

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he intends to publish the Strategic Rail Authority's advice on Central Railway's proposals.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 23 October to the hon. Member for Chesham & Amersham [75905 and 75906].

Road Junctions

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his programme to tackle congestion and improve safety at junctions on trunk roads and motorways; and what impact his programme will have on his plans for de-trunking roads.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 15 October, Official Report, columns 170–171. This programme will have no impact on our plans to detrunk roads as none of the junctions are on roads to be detrunked.

Midlands—North West Multi-modal Study

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce plans to take forward the Midlands to the North West Multi-Modal Study findings.

John Spellar: holding answer 22 October 2002
	We are considering the recommendations from this study alongside the views from the Regional Planning Bodies and will make an announcement in due course.

Road Safety

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to meet representatives of teachers' unions to discuss road safety outside schools.

David Jamieson: I have no plans to meet with representatives of teachers unions—nor am I aware of any request by them to meet me. Responsibility for local road safety schemes rests with local highway authorities. It is for them to decide their investment priorities consulting local people as necessary. However, we advise local authorities to pay attention to child casualties, assessing roads around schools and the routes children use to get to school. This should be a component of the child road safety audits we expect local authorities to undertake, and will indicate where investment is required. Furthermore, their school travel plans should include measures necessary to ensure that there are safe routes to school for children.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Specialist Schools

Nick Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if she will make a statement on progress in secondary school specialisation.

David Miliband: There are currently 992 specialist schools in England located across 146 local education authorities. In the October 2002 competition we have received 350 applications for specialist school designation. We are committed to a target of 2,000 specialist schools by September 2006 with the expectation that over time all secondary schools ready and able to can be specialist schools.

Specialist Schools

Tony McWalter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to encourage schools to apply for specialist engineering status.

Ivan Lewis: Within the framework of the Specialist Schools Programme it is for individual schools to decide on the specialism for which they wish to apply. We are funding the Technology Colleges Trust to support schools wishing to apply for specialist school designation, including as an Engineering College. In addition to allowing for the possibility of combined specialisms which involve Engineering we have made it possible for existing Technology Colleges to switch to an Engineering specialism when they apply for re-designation.

Small Schools (Lancashire)

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what investment has been made in small schools in the Lancaster & Wyre constituency since May 1997.

Mr. Twigg: Figures for the investment in small schools in Lancaster and Wyre are not collected centrally. Since 1997, the Government has allocated #7.9m of specific funding to support small schools in Lancashire in addition to the budgets allocated to these schools through Lancashire's school funding formula.

School Discipline

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of disciplinary problems on standards in schools.

Mr. Twigg: Standards in schools have risen rapidly since 1997. This year 51 per cent. of secondary pupils achieved five or more A* to C GCSEs compared to 45 per cent. five years ago. But OFSTED report that bad behaviour disrupts education in one in 12 secondary and one in 50 primary schools. We are implementing a wide range of measures to tackle that problem, including a #50 million Behaviour Improvement Programme that is providing intensive support for schools facing the most challenging behaviour.

School Discipline

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what plans she has to increase the powers of teachers to deal with indiscipline in schools.

Mr. Twigg: Headteachers already have the power to exclude pupils from school on disciplinary grounds by virtue of section 64 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. That power has been re-enacted in section 52(1) and (2) of the Education Act 2002. We aim to commence section 52 and regulations under that section which will improve the working of exclusion appeal panels on 1 January 2003.

A-Levels

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what representation she has received following the publication of the inquiry into the marking of some A level subjects this summer.

David Miliband: The Secretary of State has received a range of representations on A levels. These included questions on how the inquiry may affect individual grades, how the inquiry regrading process would work, requests for the department to intervene in individual appeals and general comments about the grading system.

A-Levels

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether higher education institutions will charge tuition fees to students who transfer to another institution in the current or next academic year as a result of regrading of this year's ''A'' levels.

Margaret Hodge: I understand that no more than 168 higher education students are eligible to transfer to another higher education institution as a result of the A level regrading following Mike Tomlinson's enquiry. Where a student transfers to another institution in the current academic year, they will pay no more in total than their assessed contribution to the personal tuition fee, which depends on their income and that of their parents. Guidance from Universities UK and the Standing Conference of Principals advises the institution they are leaving to refund the unused portion of any tuition fee which has been paid and the receiving institution cannot levy a higher tuition fee than the balance of the student's personal contribution.
	In cases where students transfer to another institution next year and do not receive a full refund of any personal tuition fee already paid, they may apply to the A Level Claims Fund for the balance of their personal tuition fee contribution.

A-Levels

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when her Department first received correspondence from the A-level examination boards alerting them to the potential problems in the new A-level system.

David Miliband: The Department for Education and Skills did not receive any correspondence from the awarding bodies about potential problems in the new A level system. Issues of implementation of public examinations are dealt with by the statutory regulatory body, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

A-Level Regrading

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the schools that have had at least one of their students' overall grades changed following the recent regrading.

David Miliband: This is a matter for the Oxford and Cambridge and RSA Examinations Board.

A-Level Regrading

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether she intends to make public the submissions to the Tomlinson inquiry.

David Miliband: It is for Mike Tomlinson to decide whether to publicise the submissions to his inquiry.

Further Education

Syd Rapson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what steps she is taking to raise standards in further education establishments.

Ivan Lewis: We are determined to build on the progress that has been achieved by the sector in recent years to raise standards. In June we published our proposals for a reform of further education—''Success for All''. This comprises a comprehensive strategy, which has received the overwhelming support of key partners, for radical improvements. It will improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning and develop the teachers and leaders of the future. We plan to make further announcements shortly.

Further Education

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, If she will make a statement on the funding of further education.

Margaret Hodge: This year, 2002–03, #4.4 billion has been allocated to further education, an increase of #1.2 billion (24 per cent. in real terms) compared with 1997–98. The Spending Review settlement for the next three years up to 2005–06 includes a 1 per cent. real terms annual increase in core funding and paves the way for three year budgets for colleges and other providers which demonstrate their effectiveness. We also expect to announce further substantial resources later in the autumn to support our strategy for reforming further education and training.

LEA Funding

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, when she last met representatives from the f40 Group of local authorities to discuss education funding

David Miliband: I last met representatives of the f40 Group of local authorities on 25 September to discuss the review of Local Education Authority funding.

Teachers (Criminal Records Bureau)

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if she will make a statement on the impact of the performance of the Criminal Records Bureau on the process of appointing teachers.

David Miliband: At present the performance of the Criminal Records Bureau is not impacting on the process of appointing teachers. My Department has advised employers in the education service that teachers, and other staff and volunteers, can be appointed provisionally in advance of the receipt of a Disclosure from the CRB. They may be deployed to work with children at the discretion of the Head teacher, subject to a satisfactory check of my Department's List 99 which contains details of people who are barred from teaching and other work involving regular contact with children, taking up references, and other usual recruitment checks. We have also advised employers that where appropriate they should continue to seek a CRB Disclosure, and review the person's suitability in light of any information revealed by that when it is received. The interim arrangements to allow teachers to be appointed in advance of receiving a Disclosure were first introduced in May.

Primary School Testing

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of regular testing upon primary school pupils; and if she will make a statement.

David Miliband: There are statutory tests for primary school pupils at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 as they complete one programme of study and prepare to move on to the next. Each year the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority carries out evaluations of the key stage tests, including questions relating to pupil anxiety. The evidence over several years, including this year, is that teachers generally feel that most children cope well with them. Other recent studies include a review by the EPPI-Centre on the impact of summative assessment and testing on students' motivation for learning. These studies help inform the development of policy.

Policy Documents

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many policy documents a secondary school is required (a) by law and (b) by her Department to have.

David Miliband: All secondary schools are legally required to publish an Annual Report to Parents and a Prospectus, which if they choose can be combined as a single document. They are also legally obliged to publish an Action Plan following an OfSTED inspection.
	There are 19 areas in which all secondary schools are legally required to have policies and an additional four areas that only apply to secondary schools of varying type and form of governance. 20 of these are statutory requirements and three are required by Departmental guidance and circulars. Schools are not necessarily expected to produce these as separate documents for each area of policy.

Pay (Further Education)

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if she will make a statement on the pay and conditions of lecturers in further education.

Margaret Hodge: Colleges in the further education sector, including sixth form colleges, are run by independent corporations with their own pay arrangements. Colleges agree annual pay rises and conditions of employment with their staff in the context of local priorities and the overall resources available to them. Within this context, there is a nationally recommended pay increase agreed by employer representative bodies and the unions. There has not yet been agreement between employers and the trade unions on a national recommendation on this year's pay. The Government has strongly encouraged both parties to enter into meaningful discussions on this year's pay award.
	In consultation with the Association of Colleges, the Sixth Form Colleges' Employers' Forum and the FE unions we have introduced the Teaching Pay Initiative (TPI) to help colleges modernise pay arrangements and to recruit, reward and retain excellent teachers. This has provided a significant new resource for pay and we recently announced the extension of TPI arrangements to include non-teaching staff, together with a further #32 million, equivalent to about 1 per cent. of the pay bill. This brings total funding for TPI this year to #142m.
	TPI is an ongoing commitment for colleges and future funding arrangements will recognise that position. Many colleges have felt able to consolidate TPI payments into pensionable pay already and I hope that others will follow their example.

Pay (Further Education)

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of pay levels for staff working in colleges of further education.

Margaret Hodge: Colleges in the further education sector, including sixth form colleges, are run by independent corporations with their own pay arrangements. Colleges agree annual pay rises and conditions of employment with their staff in the context of local priorities and the overall resources available to them. Within this context, there is a nationally recommended pay increase agreed by employer representative bodies and the unions. Pay arrangements in the sector are therefore diverse, reflecting colleges' local priorities and the overall resources available to them. Extra resources have been made available to FE colleges. There is #4.4 billion available to the sector this year, an increase of #1.2 billion in five years. Within this there is #142m available for the Teaching Pay Initiative (TPI) which helps colleges to modernise pay arrangements and to recruit, reward and retain excellent teachers and we have recently announced its extension to non-teaching staff for the first time.
	From next year up to 2005–06, the Government has already announced that there will be a 1 per cent. annual real terms increase in core funding for FE. We also expect to announce further additional resources later in the autumn to support our strategy for reforming further education and training.

Pay (Further Education)

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the offer of additional funds to further education colleges under (a) the Teaching Pay Initiative and (b) the College Pay Initiative; and what proportion of the remuneration of each full-time equivalent these aggregates represent if passed on in full.

Margaret Hodge: On 20 September, I announced an extra #32m for the Teaching Pay Initiative (TPI) in further education colleges this year and the Learning and Skills Council has notified colleges of their additional allocations. Of the #32 million, I indicated that #20 million was for teachers and lecturers and #12 million to allow colleges to make a start on extending the initiative to non-teaching staff for the first time through the College Pay Initiative (CPI). However, colleges have complete flexibility in determining how they allocate their share of the #32 million between different groups of staff to meet local priorities. The additional #32m represents approximately one per cent. of the overall FE pay bill.

SSA (Wiltshire)

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what the education SSA is per head in secondary schools in Wiltshire

David Miliband: In 2002–03 Wiltshire's Education SSA per pupil in secondary schools is #3220.
	Note:
	* Figure in cash terms for pupils aged 11–15—rounded to nearest #10

Teacher Assaults (Greater London)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many assaults there have been on teachers employed by education authorities in the Greater London area in each of the last three years.

Mr. Twigg: The Department does not collect this information. However, figures for the whole of Great Britain provided by the Health and Safety Executive show that 135 teachers received injuries as a result of assault in 1999–2000 and also in 2000–01. There are no figures available yet for 2001–02.

Metals Skills Council

Hywel Francis: To ask the Minister for Adult Learning and Skills, what progress has been made in establishing a Metals Skills Council.

Ivan Lewis: The Sector Skills Development Agency is in continuing discussions to ensure an appropriate place for metals within the Sector Skills Network.
	I look forward to seeing how things develop for this important sector and to receiving the SSDA's recommendation.

Business Studies

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what plans she has for improving the teaching of business studies in schools and colleges of further education.

Ivan Lewis: Pupils learn about the economy, enterprise and business education through PSHE and Citizenship. All secondary schools have received specific guidance to support this.
	Following Sir Howard Davies recommendations, additional resources have been allocated to give every child the chance to spend five days engaging in activities to develop knowledge and skills about entrepreneurship; the economy; business and financial literacy.
	We have set up a new Standards Unit to develop materials and disseminate best practice on all aspects of post-16 teaching & learning.

Individual Learning Accounts

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she will bring forward proposals for a replacement scheme for individual learning accounts.

Ivan Lewis: In June 2003 following the completion of our review of funding of adult learning and as an integral part of our groundbreaking national Skills Strategy and delivery plan.
	In view of this decision we have agreed with Capita that our joint work with them on the development of a successor scheme is now complete. We are grateful for the partnership approach that Capita have adopted to the wind down of the ILA scheme and the development of a successor scheme.

English as an Additional Language

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her Department's estimate is of the number of children who have English as an additional language in schools.

David Miliband: In January 2002 there were 350,483 or 10.0 per cent. of pupils in maintained primary schools in England whose mother tongue is known or believed to be other than English. The corresponding figure in maintained secondary schools is 282,235 or 8.6 per cent.
	The collection of data on pupils' ''mother tongue'' through the Annual Schools Census in January 2002 replaced the earlier collection of data on English as an Additional Language.

English as an Additional Language

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent research she has commissioned on how children with English as an additional language learn English most quickly; and what the findings were of the research.

Mr. Twigg: holding answer 21 October 2002
	There is already a great deal of research evidence from the UK and elsewhere about effective strategies for teaching English as an additional language (EAL). The general consensus among practitioners in England is that EAL teaching is most effective where it is firmly embedded across all National Curriculum subject areas. This ensures that pupils have the opportunity to learn English in a meaningful subject-specific context. My Department's role is to ensure that the particular needs of bilingual learners are properly taken into account in all policies and programmes aimed at raising standards. Recent examples include the development and dissemination of EAL modules as part of the National Literacy and Numeracy strategies and Key Stage 3.

Home Education

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children of school age are being educated at home in (a) England, (b) East Sussex and (e) Eastbourne.

David Miliband: The available figures record for each Local Education Authority the number of pupils not in school and being otherwise educated. This includes, but does not separately identify pupils taught at home, traveller children, asylum seekers at Further Education colleges or with voluntary providers. The figures show that in January 2002, 263 pupils were not in school but were being educated otherwise in East Sussex Local Education Authority. The corresponding figure for England is 18,969.

Teachers (London Allowances)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make it her policy to give London weighting to teachers' salaries in Castle Point.

David Miliband: My right hon. Friend has asked the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) to consider the pay of London teachers, but has not specifically asked it to review the qualifying areas for the three London allowances. All schools, including those outside the existing London Allowances area, already have discretion to pay recruitment and retention allowances worth up to #5,262 per annum to target their particular recruitment and retention issues. She has also asked the STRB to consider what scope there would be over the longer term for introducing some form of local pay, which will better reflect local differences in costs and rest more responsibility for pay in the hands of Headteachers. She awaits the STRB's recommendations with interest.

Community Empowerment Network

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions her Department has had with the Community Empowerment Network.

Ivan Lewis: The Department for Education and Skills has had no direct discussions with the Community Empowerment Network.

Public Service Agreements

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the value of target setting to the work of her Department.

David Miliband: Investment of public money in the services required to achieve our objectives is linked to measurable performance against targets, which are set out in Public Service Agreements. These are established alongside spending plans in the Government's Spending Reviews. Performance is monitored and reported to Parliament.
	We have recently reviewed our targets in the context of the 2002 Spending Review.

LEA Spending

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the amounts that education authorities have spent above or below their education SSAs in the current year.

David Miliband: The following table contains the information requested:
	
		
			 LEA Name SSA #M Education budget #M Difference #M 
		
		
			 All England 23,857.8996 24,102.2827 244.3830 
			 City of London 1.0224 2.3166 1.2942 
			 Camden 103.0365 106.7864 3.7499 
			 Greenwich 145.0059 141.8289 -3.1769 
			 Hackney 120.7448 112.7290 -8.0158 
			 Hammersmith and 
			 Fulham 76.9500 77.0269 0.0768 
			 Islington 104.5123 104.7119 0.1996 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 48.7089 50.1378 1.4289 
			 Lambeth 130.9174 131.2125 0.2951 
			 Lewisham 147.1363 147.8178 0.6815 
			 Southwark 149.7648 149.7648 0.0000 
			 Tower Hamlets 167.8211 169.9616 2.1404 
			 Wandsworth 112.1965 108.7913 -3.4052 
			 Westminster 79.7290 87.0317 7.3027 
			 Barking and Dagenham 102.8619 103.1689 0.3070 
			 Barnet 161.9221 164.0561 2.1340 
			 Bexley 128.0827 123.3978 -4.6849 
			 Brent 144.5210 135.5429 -8.9781 
			 Bromley 154.1728 143.5694 -10.6034 
			 Croydon 169.2417 170.4822 1.2405 
			 Ealing 152.7345 154.4311 1.6966 
			 Enfield 170.1536 168.2011 -1.9526 
			 Haringey 134.2717 134.2796 0.0079 
			 Harrow 95.8466 97.2904 1.4438 
			 Havering 117.3537 116.3395 -1.0141 
			 Hillingdon 134.0767 132.3941 -1.6826 
			 Hounslow 126.3980 124.8600 -1.5380 
			 Kingston upon Thames 64.9491 67.0417 2.0926 
			 Merton 74.8190 75.5614 0.7425 
			 Newham 190.1691 183.1632 -7.0059 
			 Redbridge 144.7254 142.2387 -2.4867 
			 Richmond upon Thames 60.6527 65.0357 4.3830 
			 Sutton 97.4150 97.7339 0.3189 
			 Waltham Forest 131.4987 133.4767 1.9780 
			 Birmingham 578.4689 605.5499 27.0810 
			 Coventry 155.4544 161.8734 6.4190 
			 Dudley 139.5913 146.9561 7.3648 
			 Sandwell 152.5939 154.5979 2.0040 
			 Solihull 100.8826 101.6920 0.8093 
			 Walsall 143.0901 143.9510 0.8609 
			 Wolverhampton 128.1214 129.8654 1.7440 
			 Knowsley 93.7373 89.4980 -4.2394 
			 Liverpool 264.1078 264.1221 0.0143 
			 St. Helens 86.9732 88.4465 1.4733 
			 Sefton 138.6666 147.6179 8.9513 
			 Wirral 169.6693 168.1654 -1.5038 
			 Bolton 134.7642 135.0284 0.2642 
			 Bury 81.5847 82.4809 0.8962 
			 Manchester 232.5382 231.7309 -0.8073 
			 Oldham 122.2909 123.8428 1.5519 
			 Rochdale 111.1350 109.5689 -1.5661 
			 Salford 105.0821 109.5790 4.4969 
			 Stockport 118.2643 121.9897 3.7254 
			 Tameside 108.8925 109.7389 0.8464 
			 Trafford 104.0584 105.9499 1.8914 
			 Wigan 141.4448 147.7403 6.2955 
			 Barnsley 99.2009 100.2947 1.0938 
			 Doncaster 153.9750 154.0220 0.0470 
			 Rotherham 131.8516 133.6561 1.8045 
			 Sheffield 227.4497 228.6550 1.2053 
			 Bradford 267.2879 259.0728 -8.2151 
			 Calderdale 103.0057 103.9320 0.9263 
			 Kirklees 188.6507 186.9214 -1.7293 
			 Leeds 333.0348 343.3101 10.2753 
			 Wakefield 148.5499 148.8855 0.3356 
			 Gateshead 88.3709 91.9210 3.5501 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 124.4614 120.8965 -3.5649 
			 North Tyneside 89.2221 91.5132 2.2911 
			 South Tyneside 76.9479 77.7474 0.7995 
			 Sunderland 142.9263 141.8552 -1.0711 
			 Isles of Scilly 1.4213 1.4743 0.0530 
			 Bath & North East 
			 Somerset 72.2319 78.5632 6.3313 
			 City of Bristol 151.3926 167.8251 16.4325 
			 North Somerset 79.5604 79.5771 0.0167 
			 South Gloucestershire 110.7529 115.0135 4.2606 
			 Hartlepool 48.5591 48.5619 0.0029 
			 Middlesbrough 74.2550 74.5087 0.2537 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 73.2583 73.2588 0.0005 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 91.7786 92.4574 0.6788 
			 City of Kingston Upon 
			 Hull 129.4733 130.7577 1.2844 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 144.6368 145.6397 1.0029 
			 North East Lincolnshire 83.3160 86.0500 2.7340 
			 North Lincolnshire 73.6651 75.5444 1.8793 
			 North Yorkshire 260.4408 272.0278 11.5871 
			 York 70.0044 72.1578 2.1534 
			 Bedfordshire 193.5908 192.2110 -1.3799 
			 Luton 102.7965 102.9612 0.1647 
			 Buckinghamshire 231.9312 230.5043 -1.4269 
			 Milton Keynes 109.8883 110.3019 0.4136 
			 Derbyshire 324.1436 333.2927 9.1491 
			 Derby 112.7384 112.4870 -0.2514 
			 Dorset 161.7980 166.6484 4.8504 
			 Poole 57.3219 57.6851 0.3632 
			 Bournemouth 64.7092 65.8520 1.1428 
			 Durham 229.8940 235.3863 5.4923 
			 Darlington 45.9026 46.0735 0.1709 
			 East Sussex 210.3524 210.4880 0.1356 
			 Brighton and Hove 98.8876 98.5689 -0.3187 
			 Hampshire 528.0371 533.0300 4.9929 
			 Portsmouth 84.2356 84.9116 0.6760 
			 Southampton 99.8437 95.9386 -3.9051 
			 Leicestershire 273.7501 282.9221 9.1720 
			 Leicester 150.7880 151.5138 0.7258 
			 Rutland 13.7401 14.9132 1.1731 
			 Staffordshire 368.5498 372.2987 3.7489 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 112.4341 115.4721 3.0380 
			 Wiltshire 189.7108 191.8442 2.1334 
			 Swindon 83.7499 85.0684 1.3185 
			 Bracknell Forest 47.0862 46.8975 -0.1887 
			 Windsor and 
			 Maidenhead 61.0867 61.5277 0.4410 
			 West Berkshire 73.6664 73.8679 0.2014 
			 Reading 54.9770 55.9641 0.9871 
			 Slough 70.2168 68.3485 -1.8683 
			 Wokingham 69.0003 69.9677 0.9674 
			 Cambridgeshire 223.1475 229.2433 6.0958 
			 Peterborough 92.6291 91.4104 -1.2186 
			 Cheshire 304.7116 320.8066 16 0950 
			 Halton 65.1823 65.7914 0.6091 
			 Warrington 90.8670 92.8647 1.9977 
			 Devon 288.3235 290.2373 1.9138 
			 Plymouth 124.3191 124.3928 0.0737 
			 Torbay 58.2246 58.7771 0.5525 
			 Essex 630.8486 624.5436 -6.3050 
			 Southend-on-Sea 85.1138 85.2244 0.1106 
			 Thurrock 71.5857 71.6057 0.0200 
			 Herefordshire 72.0859 72.0400 -0.0459 
			 Worcestershire 230.1543 232.5732 2.4189 
			 Kent 672.6925 665.0712 -7.6213 
			 Medway 141.0335 141.2467 0.2132 
			 Lancashire 534.9970 554.4728 19.4758 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 79.1864 81.4579 2.2715 
			 Blackpool 64.0861 64.2837 0.1975 
			 Nottinghamshire 344.6936 352.9175 8.2239 
			 Nottingham 128.6954 132.7207 4.0253 
			 Shropshire 118.5369 119.7804 1.2435 
			 Telford & Wrekin 78.0621 78.0941 0.0320 
			 Cornwall 219.4095 215.7320 -3.6775 
			 Cumbria 226.2349 233.4352 7.2003 
			 Gloucestershire 254.0244 257.0497 3.0253 
			 Hertfordshire 539.0524 539.6100 0.5576 
			 Isle of Wight 64.7710 64.7862 0.0152 
			 Lincolnshire 301.5732 305.9253 4.3521 
			 Norfolk 340.3741 345.5370 5.1628 
			 Northamptonshire 302.3844 306.4191 4.0347 
			 Northumberland 147.9800 149.9239 1.9440 
			 Oxfordshire 261.7899 264.1175 2.3276 
			 Somerset 208.5049 216.8839 8.3791 
			 Suffolk 295.0851 297.3883 2.3032 
			 Surrey 432.9177 434.9247 2.0070 
			 Warwickshire 219.5074 228.3518 8.8444 
			 West Sussex 325.7824 327.2292 1.4468 
		
	
	Sources:
	Data 2002–03 S52 Budget statements as returned by LEAs to the DfES.
	Data reflects position as at 11 October.

Physical Education

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her answer of 19 September, Official Report, column 111W, on physical education, what research was undertaken to enforce the joint Public Service Agreement with her Department and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in respect of sport in schools; and if she will place such research in the Library.

Ivan Lewis: All School Sport Co-ordinator partnerships are currently undertaking an annual data collection exercise. This will provide in-depth information on the number of pupils with access to two hours of high quality PE and school sport a week, within and beyond the curriculum. Early messages from this will be available before the end of the year and the House will be informed of the results.

European Job Mobility

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what progress there has been in establishing the European Job Mobility web-site agreed at the Barcelona Council in March 2002;
	(2)  what progress there has been in developing a Europe-wide Internet portal aimed at providing access to information on job and learning opportunities.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 23 October 2002
	At Barcelona in March 2002, the Council decided that a one stop European Job Mobility web site should be established by the end of 2003 at the latest.
	The Commission, together with the national public employment services, has developed the European Employment Services (EURES) system which, since 1998, has provided job vacancies on the Internet. The Commission is also currently testing a new portal website which will provide access to training and learning opportunities. It is expected that the new portal will be launched next month.
	The Commission plans to bring together the two Internet services in 2003 to offer a single point of access for citizens interested in jobs and learning opportunities. The new, single, portal will form the basis of the European Job Mobility website.

Training and Enterprise Council Assets

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the disposal of TEC assets to (a) the public sector and (b) private interests.

Margaret Hodge: It is the Department's intention to publish a statement on the disposition of TEC assets in the Department's accounts which are currently being audited by the NAO and are due to be published on 4 December 2002. The disposition of TEC assets has been subject to a policy agreed with Ministers and Treasury with the aim of making sure that TEC assets are used for the benefit of the TEC local communities in the furtherance of broader government objectives and not for private gain.

Modern Apprenticeships

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many modern apprenticeships have been under way (a) in total and (b) in each industrial sector in each year since the inception of the scheme; and how many persons have entered a programme in each of these years.

Ivan Lewis: The figures (except those broken down into sector) in the following tables also appear in the DfES' Statistical First Release on work-based learning, published today at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/DB/SFR/s0358/index.html.
	The numbers of people in-learning on AMA and FMA since the inception of the scheme are as follows:
	
		
			 Date in-learning AMA FMA 
		
		
			 16 July 1995 2,100 0 
			 21 July 1996 35,100 0 
			 03 August 1997 87,500 0 
			 02 August 1998 109,600 8,800 
			 01 August 1999 123,800 41,400 
			 30 July 2000 127,300 77,700 
			 29 July 2001 117,800 88,400 
			 28 July 2002 107,900* 111,600* 
		
	
	Note:
	* In-learning figures on 28 July 2002 are provisional.
	The proportions in-learning in each sector, as a proportion of all sectors, are as follows:
	
		
			 In-learning on AMA in sector as % of in-learning on AMA in all sectors 21 Jul 1996 3 Aug 1997 2 Aug 1998 1 Aug 1999 30 Jul 2000 29 Jul 2001 28 Jul 2002 
			  % % % % % % % 
		
		
			 Accounting 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 
			 Agriculture and Commercial Horticulture 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Aviation 1 — — — — 1 3 
			 Business Administration 13 14 12 12 11 9 7 
			 Construction 7 7 6 7 7 7 6 
			 Customer Service — 1 3 5 7 6 6 
			 Early Years Care and Education 3 3 3 3 4 5 5 
			 Electrical Installation Engineering 7 5 7 6 6 8 9 
			 Engineering Construction 1 — — — — 1 1 
			 Engineering Manufacture 21 14 18 14 13 14 14 
			 Hairdressing 7 7 6 6 6 5 4 
			 Health and Social Care 5 6 4 5 5 5 4 
			 Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning 
			 and Refrigeration 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Hospitality 7 7 6 7 7 6 6 
			 Information Technology and Electronic Services — 2 2 2 2 1 1 
			 Moving into Management — — — — 1 1 1 
			 Motor Industry 9 8 9 8 8 10 11 
			 Plumbing 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 
			 Printing 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 
			 Retailing 7 9 5 6 5 3 2 
			 Road Haulage and Distribution — — 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Sports and Recreation 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Telecommunications — — 1 1 1 2 2 
			 Travel Services 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 
		
	
	Sources:
	Sectors which have less than 0.5% of all those on AMA on 28 July 2002 are not shown.
	Figures are rounded to the nearest whole percentage point.
	''—'' denotes zero or less than 0.5%.
	
		
			 In-learning on FMA in sector as % of in-learning on FMA in all sectors 02 Aug 1998 01 Aug 1999 30 Jul 2000 29 Jul 2001 28 Jul 2002 
			  % % % % % 
		
		
			 Accounting — 1 1 1 1 
			 Agriculture and Commercial Horticulture 3 1 1 1 1 
			 Amenity Horticulture — 1 1 1 1 
			 Animal Care 3 2 2 1 1 
			 Business Administration 13 18 16 15 14 
			 Construction — 4 7 7 9 
			 Customer Service 1 6 10 10 8 
			 Distribution, Warehousing and Storage — — — 2 2 
			 Early Years Care and Education — 1 2 3 4 
			 Electrotechnical — — — 1 1 
			 Engineering Manufacture 6 4 4 5 4 
			 Glass Industry — 1 1 — 1 
			 Hairdressing 23 13 11 10 10 
			 Health and Social Care 4 5 5 6 7 
			 Hospitality 7 10 10 11 11 
			 Information Technology and Electronic Services — 5 4 4 3 
			 Manufacturing (Engineering) — — — 1 1 
			 Motor Industry 8 5 5 4 4 
			 Plumbing — 1 1 1 2 
			 Retailing — 16 13 12 10 
			 Road Haulage and Distribution — — — 1 1 
			 Sports and Recreation 2 1 2 2 2 
		
	
	Sources:
	Sectors which have less than 0.5% of all those on FMA on 28 July 2002 are not shown.
	Figures are rounded to the nearest whole percentage point.
	''—'' denotes zero or less than 0.5%.
	The numbers of starts on Foundation Modern Apprenticeships (FMA) and Advanced Modern Apprenticeships (AMA) in the last six years are as follows:
	
		
			 Date of start AMA FMA 
		
		
			 22 July 1996–3 August 1997 64,600 0 
			 4 August 1997–2 August 1998 66,800 7,800 
			 3 August 1998–1 August 1999 73,200 45,100 
			 2 August 1999–30 July 2000 76,800 88,300 
			 31 July 2000–29 July 2001 72,400 104,100 
			 30 July 2001–28 July 2002 52,700* 106,600* 
		
	
	Note:
	* Starts in 2001–02 are provisional.
	The Learning and Skills Council is responsible for delivering the new generation of Modern Apprenticeships and is working closely with the new Sector Skills Councils and the Connexions Service to improve quality and performance.

Independent Schools (Exam Grades)

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of candidates from independent schools achieved A* or A grades in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

David Miliband: The information requested is shown below:
	
		Percentage of 15 Year Old Pupils Achieving GCSE A* or A Grades in Independent Schools in England
		
			  % 
			  
		
		
			 1997–98 73 
			 1998–99 74 
			 1999–00 75 
			 2000–01 76 
			 2001–02 (Early Statistics) 77

School Standards

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have not been classed by Ofsted as well led over the last five years; and what proportion this is of all schools inspected.

David Miliband: These are matters for the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). The HM Chief Inspector for Schools, David Bell will write to the hon. Gentleman and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.

School Standards

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on whether the performance inequalities between (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools have narrowed since 1997.

David Miliband: There has been a significant narrowing of the performance inequalities between primary schools, following the introduction of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. At Key Stage 2, for example, the average performance of the lowest attaining 20 per cent. of schools improved from 41 per cent. in 1997 to 61 per cent. in 2001, an increase of 20 per cent. points compared to the national average increase of 13 per cent. points.
	We are committed to narrowing the performance gap between secondary schools through the implementation of our plans to transform secondary education.

Teachers' Pay

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what has been the total cost in each of the last four years of the performance related pay scheme for teachers, broken down by (a) administration costs, (b) payments to teachers and (c) other costs; how many of those who applied received the additional payments; and if she will make a statement.

David Miliband: Teachers have been receiving performance threshold increases since September 2000. Over #245 million in threshold grant payments were paid to local authorities in the 2000–01 financial year, over #436 million in 2001–02, and to date over #279 million in the current financial year.
	The Department has a contract with Cambridge Education Associates (CEA) for the provision and deployment of threshold assessors and external advisers to governing bodies on heads' performance. We also have a contract with Centre for British Teachers (CfBT) for training in threshold assessment and performance management. The value of these contracts depends on the volume and quality of activity. Since January 2000 total CEA contract costs have been around #47 million and CfBT costs around #13 million.
	Not all teachers who were eligible to apply did so. Over 200,000 teachers in England applied to cross the performance threshold in the first round and over 31,000 in the second round. Of these, nearly 224,000 were assessed as meeting the threshold standards. This is something of which the profession can be proud.

Examination Results

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of GCSE candidates achieved five or more A* to C grades in each year from 1987 to 2002; and if she will make a statement on the reasons underlying the change in performance.

David Miliband: The information requested is shown in the Table below:
	
		Percentage of 15 year old pupils achieving 5 or more grades A*–C at GCSE/GNVQ in schools in England
		
			  % 
			  
		
		
			 1986–87 26.4 
			 1987–88 29.9 
			 1988–89 32.8 
			 1989–90 34.5 
			 1990–91 36.8 
			 1991–92 38.3 
			 1992–93 41.2 
			 1993–94 43.3 
			 1994–95 43.5 
			 1995–96 44.5 
			 1996–97 45.1 
			 1997–98 46.3 
			 1998–99 47.9 
			 1999–00 49.2 
			 2000–01 50.0 
			 2001–02 (Early Statistics) 51.2 
		
	
	Sources:
	1986–87 – 1987–88 School Leavers Survey
	1988–89 – 1990–91 School Examinations Survey
	1991–92 onwards Data collected for Secondary School Performance Tables

Examination Results

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the average proportion of GCSE marks accounted for by coursework; and if she will make a statement.

David Miliband: The proportion of coursework and examination assessment of GCSEs varies between individual subjects and awarding body specifications. The weighting of coursework for academic subjects varies between 20–40 per cent.; for practical subjects between 40–60 per cent.; in the case of the eight new GCSEs in vocational subjects introduced in September 2002, the coursework weighting is 67 per cent., with the exception of Applied ICT, where the coursework weighting is 67–85 per cent.

Departmental Costs

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many employees there were of (a) her Department and (b) its agencies; if she will estimate the annual (i) staff pay costs, (ii) buildings costs, (iii) administration costs and (iv) other cost for each; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Twigg: The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) employs 4,270 permanent staff and 114 temporary staff. It has no agencies.
	DfES's gross administrative costs for the financial year 2001–02 were #222m (estimated outturn). This comprised:
	staff pay costs – #126m;
	building costs – #26m and
	administration and other costs – #70m

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Job Advertisements

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many posts were advertised in the press in each year since June 1999; and what percentage of them were advertised in the Scottish press.

Clare Short: The information in the table below refers to the number of advertisements placed in the press rather than posts advertised—details of which are not maintained. The figures for 1999 are for the full year as monthly information is no longer available for that year.
	
		
			 Year Total Advertisements Placed Total Placed in Scottish Press 
		
		
			 1999 275 Information not 
			 available 
			 2000 166 3 
			 2001 122 4 
			 2002 1 January— 
			 30 September 79 3

NORTHERN IRELAND

Probation Board

Ian Cawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the 2001–02 annual report for the Probation Board for Northern Ireland will be published.

Des Browne: The 2001–02 Annual Report for the Probation Board for Northern Ireland was published today.
	A copy of the Report has been placed in the libraries of both Houses.

11 Plus

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will defer implementation of the decision of the former education minister of Northern Ireland to abandon the current 11-plus transfer arrangements, until such time as a suitable and broadly acceptable alternative transfer procedure has been decided.

Jane Kennedy: Responses to extensive consultation on the Burns Report showed almost universal support for the abolition of the 11 plus Transfer Tests and a predominant view that academic selection should be ended, although there was also substantial opposition to this proposal. There was also support for the development of a Pupil Profile, a broadening of curriculum choice at age 14, and for greater co-operation and collaboration between schools. There is a clear demand for change in order to address the weaknesses of the current system. It is important that we continue to make progress on this key issue and the Department will be meeting the key education partners to build consensus on new transfer and post-primary arrangements that are fair for all children and enable all children to reach their full potential.

Selective Schools

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the future of selective schools in Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: Extensive consultation on the Burns Report has demonstrated almost universal support for abolition of the Transfer Tests and a predominant view that academic selection should be ended although there was also substantial opposition to this proposal. In light of the views expressed the Department of Education will be meeting with key education partners to build on that consensus and develop new post-primary arrangements that are fair, enable all children to reach their full potential and provide a modern education system for the 21st Century.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Correspondence

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she intends to reply to a letter sent to her on 24 July by the hon. Member for South-East Cornwall, regarding the Pesticides Residues Committee.

Elliot Morley: I wrote to the hon. Member on 16 August 2002.

Biotechnology

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Government's response to the Agriculture and Biotechnology Commission's advice to the Government that a public debate be held on genetic modification issues.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to hold a public debate on genetic modification issues in response to the advice of the Agriculture and Biotechnology Commission.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 21 October 2002
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 26 July the terms on which the Government will sponsor a public dialogue on genetic modification (GM) issues. The overall process will have three components: a public debate organised independently of the Government, a review of the science on GM issues, and a study of the costs and benefits associated with GM. The Government wants an open and balanced dialogue that will help to deepen understanding of the issues surrounding this technology.

Agricultural Wages Board

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 21 October 2002, (75916) if she will dismiss Mrs. Jacquie Findlay and Professor Ian Smith, independent members of the Agricultural Wages Board.

Alun Michael: Mrs. Jacquie Findlay has served as an independent member of the Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales for 5 years. Professor Ian Smith has served in this capacity for a total of 8 years. We are currently reviewing Board appointments and both Jacquie Findlay and Ian Smith have indicated that they do not wish to be reappointed. The Independent member posts were advertised nationally earlier this year and over 140 applications were received. Details of the successful candidates will be announced shortly.

Biodiversity

Michael Jabez Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she is taking to conserve and enhance biodiversity in England; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: Today I am publishing a biodiversity strategy for England. The document, ''Working with the grain of nature'' is being placed in the House libraries.
	The undertaking to prepare a biodiversity strategy for England was made in the Rural White Paper, ''Our Countryside, the future: a fair deal for rural England''. The Strategy is intended to build on the progress that the Government has already made in protecting and enhancing biodiversity in England, for example with greater protection for sites of Special Scientific Interest under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and the implementation of 436 biodiversity action plans for priority habitats and species. We recognise that we can only secure the long-term health of biodiversity that is needed to bring a truly sustainable future by also achieving fundamental changes to public policy and the behaviour of people across the board.
	The Strategy sets this process in train by seeking to embed biodiversity considerations into all the main sectors of economic activity, public and private. The Strategy sets out a vision and programme for the next five years for five important policy sectors.
	In Agriculture, we aim to encourage the management of farming and agricultural land so as to conserve and enhance biodiversity as part of the Government's Sustainable Food and Farming Strategy.
	In water, we aim for a whole catchment approach to the wise, sustainable use of water and wetlands.
	In woodland and forestry, we are looking for the management and extension of woodland so as to promote enhanced biodiversity and quality of life.
	In marine and coastal management, we aim to achieve the sustainable use and management of our coasts and seas using natural processes and the ecosystem-based approach.
	In urban areas, we want biodiversity to become a part of the development of policy on sustainable communities, urban green space and the built environment.
	The Strategy also identifies a number of cross-cutting themes, with the aim of involving society as a whole in the achievement of biodiversity improvements. For example, we aim to encourage business to act for biodiversity in the boardroom, through the supply chain, in their management systems, in their annual reports and accounts and on the ground. We will also help make biodiversity part of people's everyday lives through information, communication and education and establish a mechanism to involve children and young people in the development of biodiversity policy. In addition, we will continue to encourage partnerships for biodiversity at local and regional levels in England.
	It will be essential to ensure that we measure biodiversity trends and the effects of our policies. Much work is already underway to improve the information that is available to understand the status of habitats and species, and the Strategy announces the development of a new web-based Biodiversity Action Reporting System to be launched in 2003 and the adoption of a set of biodiversity indicators to measure our progress. These indicators will be published in full within a year.
	This Government Strategy has been prepared, uniquely, with the active contributions of a large number of partners and stakeholders. We shall continue to rely on the widest possible partnership as we move forward to implementation. The partnership will be represented through the England Biodiversity Group, which will review the Strategy annually and publish a report on progress in 2006.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Departmental Schemes

Andrew Turner: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the schemes and initiatives sponsored by his Department and its agencies which are not the subject of national roll out, showing (a) the authorities or areas covered by the scheme and (b) the budget of the scheme in the last year for which information is available.

Rosie Winterton: The schemes and initiatives sponsored by LCD, its agencies and the Public Record Office are set out in the table below.
	
		
			 Initiative Area Budget 
		
		
			 Partnership Innovation Budget which builds on the ethos of the CLS in encouraging joint working and fresh approaches to service delivery London 
			 South East 
			 South West #1,070,052 
			 #1,487,369 
			 #355,285 
			  Wales #1,134,617 
			  West Midlands #766,354 
			  North West #2,166,265.75 
			  North East #1,234,237 
			  Yorkshire/Humberside #1,435,028 
			  East Midlands #831,472 
			  Eastern #1,040,455 
			  Merseyside #1,386,597 
			   Capital (revenue) 
			 Exhibit (AR* p.22) Chelmsford, Basildon and Southend #1.2M(#1.7M) 
			 Digital Audio Recording (AR p.23) Doncaster, Bournemouth and Snaresbrook #1M (#500K) 
			 Electronic Presentation of Evidence (AR p.23) Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Blackfriars, Liverpool, Manchester, Kingston, Southwark, Central London #2.1M(#200K) 
			 Video Conferencing Crown Court (AR p.23) Hampshire, Lewes/Hove, North West (#800K) 
			 Flexible Plea and Directions (AR p.23) Preston, Newcastle & Middlesex Guildhall (#130K) 
			 PREMA E-mail applications (AR p.27) Preston #65K 
			 Virtual PDH Manchester (#190K) 
			 Business Centre (AR p.27) Walsall #1.5M(#600K) 
			 Information Kiosk (AR p.28) including Crown Court websites (AR p.22) Telford, Ipswich, Chester, Kingston, Mold, Southwark Crown Courts, Bournemouth Combined Court #150K (#100K) 
			 Extended Magistrates' Court Sitting Hours London and Manchester (#0.8M) 
			 Pilot of a regionalised Court of Protection in Preston, enabling hearings to be dealt with locally rather than in London North and North west England Cost has been absorbed into normal running costs 
			 Public Record Office   
			 Profile—raising campaign aimed at PRO's local community. Aim to increase understanding of PRO and how the local community can use it. Campaign involved production and distribution of information leaflet. Richmond, Barnes, Kew, Chiswick, Brentford, Acton, Ealing. 2002–2003 #11,428.05 (printing, design, distribution of leaflet) 
		
	
	Note:
	* AR = Court Service Annual Report 2001–2002—HC 1187

Assaults (Courts)

Edward Garnier: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many assaults there have been on (a) justices of the peace, (b) district judges, (c) district judges (magistrates courts), (d) circuit judges, (e) Crown Court judges, (f) High Court judges and (g) court staff in England and Wales whilst sitting or working in court or during private room appointments in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Yvette Cooper: Reliable central records of security incidents have only been collected since April 2001, primarily as a result of strengthening procedures in the wake of the attack on Judge Ann Goddard at the Central Criminal Court in January 2001.
	Of the incidents reported since then, 9 have involved courtroom/chambers assaults on the categories of personnel listed, broken down as follows:
	JPs/District Judges (magistrates courts)—2
	District Judges—1
	High Court judge—1 (Bankruptcy Registrar)
	Staff—5
	There have been no reported assaults on circuit judges or Crown Court judges over this period.
	The Lord Chancellor's Department takes extremely seriously any assault on those working in the courts. A major programme of security improvements to district judge chambers and an ongoing programme to install more secure docks into a number of criminal courtrooms have increased the security for those working in the courts. Further improvements to court security are being developed.

Access to Justice

Andrew George: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals he has for improving access to justice in civil law disputes in respect of the socially excluded.

Rosie Winterton: 99 per cent. of the population of England and Wales are covered by Community Legal Service Partnerships (CLSPs) with the aim of improving access to good quality legal and advice services. By focusing on social welfare and family law, such as housing, welfare benefits, debt and employment, the Community Legal Service is making it easier for vulnerable individuals and families to learn about their rights and how to enforce them. The Partnership Innovation Budget is allowing CLSPs to develop creative ways to deliver services to excluded groups while changes to the eligibility limits mean that more people now qualify for free initial advice and guidance. This will make it easier for those individuals most at risk to address problems before they escalate.

Child Abduction

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list, by country, the number of child abduction cases dealt with by his Department which exceeded the six week deadline for a hearing (a) in each year since 1998 and (b) in 2002 to date.

Rosie Winterton: Article 11 of the Hague Convention makes reference to a six week ''deadline'', but does not oblige courts to conclude a case within six weeks.
	Information is not available in the format sought. The Child Abduction Unit only keeps figures for the last 2 years. The attached table details the average times taken for countries to conclude cases from the time of referral to the date when the final court decision is made. The UK average conclusion time was 84 days in 2000 and 76 days in 2001.
	
		Average length of time (days) in which Hague Convention cases are concluded in these countries from the date of referral to the date of the final court decision
		
			 Country Year 
			  2000 2001 
		
		
			 Australia 121 35 
			 Austria 140 * 
			 Belgium 198 * 
			 Canada 72 92 
			 Cyprus * 131 
			 France 99 141 
			 Germany 127 115 
			 Greece 96 350 
			 Hong Kong 138 * 
			 Ireland 108 177 
			 Italy 69 169 
			 Netherlands 115 * 
			 New Zealand 115 * 
			 Poland 167 * 
			 Portugal 28 40 
			 Romania * 235 
			 South Africa 257 548 
			 Spain 136 231 
			 Sweden 98 372 
			 Turkey * 62 
			 USA 115 129 
			 Venezuela * 309 
		
	
	Note:
	* Where there is no data this could either be because there were no cases involving that country or that cases did not involve a final hearing eg Netherlands and New Zealand resolve many cases outside the court arena.

Child Abduction

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list by country the number of child abduction cases being dealt with by the Child Abduction Unit which have exceeded the six week deadline for a hearing and are awaiting a resolution.

Rosie Winterton: Article 11 of the Hague Convention makes reference to a six week ''deadline''. This Article draws to the attention of Contracting States the urgency with which these proceedings should be dealt with. Article 11 does not oblige the courts to conclude a case within six weeks. Common delays are where the country in question is unable to locate the child or where additional enquiries are necessary to assist the court in their decision.
	The Child Abduction Unit currently has 105 cases outstanding where children have been wrongfully removed to, or retained in, other Hague Convention countries. Without examining each case it is impossible to say exactly how many of these cases have exceeded the six week period, but it will be the vast majority.

Departmental Websites

Vincent Cable: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the website links associated with his Department, including sites now dormant or closed, and indicating whether they are live, dormant or closed; what the start up costs were for each site listed; what the operating costs were in each year since start up for each site; which company hosted each site; what assessment takes place for each site; which company does the assessment; if he will place the assessment reports in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is listed below.
	
		
			 Web Site Start-up costs Operating costs Host company Evaluations/surveys 
		
		
			 Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) #6,048 Sept 2000—Sept 2001: #2000 per month British Telecom No formal evaluation. CTPI are currently conducting a redesign. 
			   Sept 2001—present: #2532 per month   
			 Civil Justice Council #1,116 2002–2003: See note 1 Previously CCTA, then Cable and Wireless from June 2002 None. 
			 Community Legal Service—Just Ask #1,500,000 
			 (April 2000) 2001–2: #888,000 
			 (Legal Services Commission assumed responsibility Oct 2001) ICL Accessibility policy reviewed by the Royal National Institute for the Blind. 
			 Conway Rose Smith Report (2000, internal). 
			 Hunter Springs Consultancy Report (June 2000, internal) assessed the site against Central IT Unit guidelines for Government websites. Plain English Campaign's award for Best Website of 2001. e-Business Innovation Award 2000. NewMediaAge Award for Charity and Public Sector Category 2000. 
			 CLS—Graduate Recruitment Site (closed Sep 2002) #525 
			 (June 2002) Included in start-up SolidUK.Net None. 
			 CLS—Legal Services Research Centre #500 2000–1: included in start-up 2001–2: #475 Simplynames.com None. 
			 Council on Tribunals #6,418.97 #1253.30 pa 
			 2002–2003 : See note 1 Cable and Wireless from June 2002 None. 
			 Court Service #18,542.25 1998–9: #15,404.68 
			 1999–2002: #12,000 pa 
			 2002–2003: See note 1 Cable and Wireless from June 2002 Online survey, set up by in-house staff, produced 643 responses. To be used as the basis for future changes. 
			 Immigration Appellate Authority Included in Year 1 operating costs 2002–2003: See note 1 Cable and Wireless from June 2002 None. 
			 Judicial Studies Board #975 
			 (October 1998) 1998–9: #330 
			 1999–2000: #1985 
			 2000–1: #500 
			 2001–2: #1200 
			 2002–3: #13077 
			 2002–2003: See note 1 Oct 1998—June 2002 NEXTRA (CIX) 
			 Cable and Wireless from June 2002 Review by Executive Director in March 2002 (internal).Statistics supplied to OeE monthly. 
			 Further evaluation to identify customers' needs in 2002–3. 
			 Land Registry—Main site 
			 http://www.landreg.gov.uk In house 
			 (Oct 1996) 1996–1999: #5000 pa 
			 Oct 1999–Oct 2000: #1000 
			 Oct 2000–March 2001: #2000 
			 2001–2: #7,000 
			 2002–3: #12,000 1996–9 CCTA 
			 1999–present: Telenor Internal only. 
			 Land Registry 
			 http://www.cofrestfatir.gov.uk—Welsh version #500 
			 (April 2001) Cost included in hosting contract for main site Telenor Internal only. 
			 Land Registry 
			 http://www.landregistrydirect.gov.uk In house. 
			 (May 2002) Cost included in hosting contract for main site Telenor Internal only. 
			 Land Registry 
			 http://strategy.landreg.gov.uk #41,129 
			 (May 2002) Cost included in hosting contract for main site Telenor Internal only. 
			 Land Registry 
			 http://legislation.landreg.gov.uk #8,956 
			 (May 2002) Cost included in hosting contract for main site Telenor Internal only. 
			 and 
			 http://deddfwriaeth.cofrestrfatir.co.uk—Welsh version 
			 Land Registry 
			 http://www.e-conveyancing.gov.uk #82,107.50 
			 (May 2002) Cost included in hosting contract for main site Telenor Internal only. 
			 Land Registry 
			 http://search.landreg.gov.uk #2303 
			 (March 2002) Cost included in hosting contract for main site Telenor Internal only. 
			 And 
			 http://chiwilio.cofrestfatir.gov.uk—Welsh version 
			 Land Registry 
			 http://mobile.landreg.gov.uk In house 
			 (Oct 2000) Cost included in hosting contract for main site Telenor Internal only. 
			 Law Commission #2,400 #10, 675 pa 
			 2002–2003: See note 1 Cable and Wireless from June 2002 Statistics recorded internally. 
			 Legal Services Commission #20,577 2000–1: #91,925 
			 2001–2: #123,761 Worldcom LSC will begin customer research project in mid-November. 
			 Legal Services Ombudsman #3348.75 
			 (August 2000) 2001: #3879.251 
			 2002: #2539 Analogue Internal survey over the next 6 months. 
			 Question relating to website on customer survey: a small number of people had seen the site of whom 50% were ''satisfied'', and only 20% were ''at all dissatisfied''. 
			 Lord Chancellors Dept #7,368 1998–9: #16,200 
			 1999–2000: #16,200 
			 2000–1: #41,133 
			 2001–2: #152,859 
			 2002–3: See note 1 Cable and Wireless from June 2002 Cabinet Office audit (June 2000), report available.Interactive survey on web site, evaluated internally. 
			 Magistrates' Court Service Inspectorate #7,000 2001–2: #1322.50 
			 2002–3: #840.13 
			 2002–2003: See note 1 Cable and Wireless from June 2002 None. 
			 Northern Ireland Court Service #55,000 
			 (April 2002) #15,000 p.a. Fujitsu Weekly internal review of usage statistics, used as basis for changes. 
			 Official Solicitor's Department In house 1999–2002: #141 pa Demon None. 
			 Public Trust Office (closed June 2001) In house 
			 (early 1997) #10,000 p.a. including development and operating cost CCTA None. 
			 Public Guardianship Office #37,600 
			 (June 2001) 2001–2: #14,334 
			 2002–3: #7,398 Development & updating by Edelman Interactive Solutions 
			 Hosted by Host Europe No formal evaluation, but consultation with external stakeholders in Oct 2002. 
			 Public Record Office—Main site #200,000 (1995) 2002–3: #147,000 
			 Previous years: similar WorldCom PRO Key Performance Indicator requires 2 surveys of online users each year. Target of 80 per cent. rating site as ''good'' or ''excellent''. See www.pro.gov.uk/about/web—surve y.htm 
			 Won Price Waterhouse Coopers 1999/2000 Innovation and Risk prize. 
			 PRO—Other sites: Family Records Learning Curve a2a Moving Here Census — Complex arrangements with various partners, PRO contribution only assessable at disproportionate cost — — 
		
	
	Notes:
	1 The 8 sites hosted by Cable and Wireless (2002–2005) under a three year contract under the Government Telecommunications Contract includes the following elements:
	Hosting
	Provision of Content Management System
	Conversion of existing content into Content Management System
	LCD and Court Service Intranet.
	The total cost of the contract for the three year period is approximately £1.5m.
	General:
	Except where stated costs may exclude internal departmental resources.
	Some of the evaluation/surveys referred to have been placed in the public domain and further consideration is being given to the wider publication of those which are not. However, the best single source of assessment of government web sites is that recently published by the National Audit Office: Government on the Web
	2 The total cost of the contract for the three year period is approximately £1.5m.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Bereavement Benefits

Julia Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to change the rules for claiming bereavement benefits.

Malcolm Wicks: I have laid Regulations today to amend the Social Security Claims and Payments Regulations, 1987. Subject to Parliament's approval they simplify the rules for claiming bereavement benefits.
	Bereavement benefits were introduced in April 2001. We have been looking at the way the three elements fit together and whether there might be improvements made by simplifying the rules. Depending on when someone claims a bereavement benefit there can be two separate social security decisions to be made—one for the weekly benefit of either Widowed Parent's Allowance or Bereavement Allowance and another for the lump-sum Bereavement Payments when there is no real difference in the qualification rules. This is both time-consuming and can be confusing for bereaved people themselves.
	We want bereaved people to claim and receive the help that they and their families are entitled to when they need it—immediately after the bereavement. Most people do; more than four fifths claim within four or five weeks of their loss. The claim is easy to make; using only one form, a widow or widower can claim whichever of these three benefits they may be entitled to without further form-filling. However, we acknowledge that not all bereaved people find it possible to claim as promptly as the current rules for the lump-sum Bereavement Payment require. To simplify matters further, we are extending the time limit for claiming Bereavement Payment and aligning it with the period over which a person can receive Bereavement Allowance—namely 12 months. We see this as a sensible alteration that will simplify the scheme for everyone while remaining compatible with underlying benefit entitlement rules.
	We intend to make this change effective for claims in respect of deaths that occur on or after 1 April 2003.

Social Fund

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes he is making to the discretionary social fund.

Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend will be making a number of minor changes to the discretionary social fund, with effect from 28 October 2002. The changes to the fund are minor clarifications of guidance and directions, and, in the main, are consequential to legislative changes being made in respect of other social security benefits.
	Details of the changes have been placed in the Library.

Child Support Agency

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many deductions from earnings orders have been made in Portsmouth, South by the CSA since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many cases the CSA has handled in Portsmouth, South since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter to Mr. Mike Hancock from Mr. Mike Isaac dated October 2002:
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in replying to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply by the Agency's Chief Executive. I am replying on his behalf.
	You ask two questions:
	how many cases the Child Support Agency has handled in Portsmouth South since 1997
	how many deductions from earnings orders have been made in Portsmouth South by the Child Support Agency since 1997
	Since 1997 approximately 4,300 Child Support Agency cases have been handled for the Portsmouth South area and 700 deduction from earnings orders have been made.

Child Support Agency

Irene Adams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many cases the CSA has handled in Paisley, North since 1997;
	(2)  how many absent parents have refused to co-operate with the CSA since 1997;
	(3)  how many deductions from earnings orders have been made in Paisley, North by the CSA since 1997.

Malcolm Wicks: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter to Mrs. Irene Adams from Mike Isaac dated October 2002:
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in replying to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply by the Agency's Chief Executive. I am replying on his behalf.
	You ask three questions:
	how many cases the Child Support Agency has handled in Paisley North since 1997
	how many absent parents have refused to co-operate with the Child Support Agency since 1997
	how many deductions from earnings orders have been made in Paisley North by the Child Support Agency since 1997
	Since 1997 approximately 2,100 Child Support Agency cases have been handled for the Paisley North area and 400 deduction from earnings orders have been made.
	I'm sorry that the information you request on non-resident parents who refuse to co-operate is not available.

''Opportunity for All''

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and if he will provide a breakdown of the estimates in ''Opportunity for All'' of the proportion of men and women who contributed to a non-state pension in recent groups of years by income band.

Ian McCartney: The information is in the table.
	
		Percentage of Working-age Individuals Contributing to a Non-state Pension in at Least Three Out of Four Years by Equivalised Income Quintiles (20 per cent. band) (Great Britain)
		
			 Percentage of working-age individuals Source: BHPS 
			  Bottom Quintile Second Quintile Third Quintile Fourth Quintile Top Quintile All 
		
		
			 All   
			 1992–95 15 8 16 24 36 100 
			 1993–96 14 9 17 24 37 100 
			 1994–97 13 9 17 26 35 100 
			 1995–98 11 11 17 26 35 100 
			 1996–99 9 10 19 27 35 100 
			 1997–2000 7 10 19 27 38 100 
			 Males   
			 1992–95 16 9 17 25 34 100 
			 1993–96 15 10 18 23 34 100 
			 1994–97 13 10 18 25 33 100 
			 1995–98 11 11 18 26 34 100 
			 1996–99 9 11 20 27 34 100 
			 1997–2000 7 10 20 27 35 100 
			 Females   
			 1992–95 15 6 16 24 40 100 
			 1993–96 13 7 14 26 40 100 
			 1994–97 12 8 15 28 37 100 
			 1995–98 10 10 16 27 37 100 
			 1996–99 8 9 18 27 37 100 
			 1997–2000 6 9 18 27 41 100 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) data set. The BHPS is a longitudinal data set developed at the University of Essex, Institute for Social and Economic Research The latest data available is for the period 1997 to 2000.
	2. The estimates are sample counts, which have been adjusted for non-response using multipurpose grossing factors. Estimates are subject to both sampling error and to variability in non-response. The income measure used is total equivalised household income (that is to say income that is adjusted to reflect the composition of the household).

Employment Rights (EU)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what restrictions exist on the rights of citizens from an EU country to work in any other EU country.

Nick Brown: Free movement of people is one of the four freedoms within the internal market of the European Union. Within the Free Movement Title of the EC Treaty, Article 39 states that free movement of workers ''shall be secured within the Community''. This means that workers of the Member States are free to accept offers of employment actually made in another Member State, and to remain in another Member State for the purposes of carrying out employment. However, Article 39 does not apply to employment in the public service.
	The main EU Regulation giving effect to free movement rights for workers of EU Member States is EEC Regulation 1612/68. This guarantees migrant workers equality of treatment with nationals of the host country in respect of:
	The right to take up an activity as an employed person
	The right to negotiate and conclude an employment contract
	Full and free access to the host country labour market
	Assistance from public employment offices
	Engagement and recruitment conditions
	Conditions of employment and conditions governing re-employment, social and tax advantages, vocational training, retraining, and clauses contained in collective or individual contracts of employment
	Membership of trade unions and the exercise of rights attaching thereto
	Housing; and
	Access of children to education and vocational training.
	The Regulation guarantees, subject to certain conditions, the right of the migrant worker's family to live in the host country.
	Nevertheless, provided they fulfil their obligations under EU legislation, Member States can and do place restrictions on the free movement rights of EU citizens, in particular:
	Article 39(3) of the EC Treaty allows Member States in some circumstances to restrict the movement and residence of workers on the grounds of ''public policy, public security or public health'';
	in relation to requirements to hold professional qualifications.

Benefits Agency Medical Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what sanctions his Department has imposed upon the company responsible for managing the Benefits Agency's medical services tests of disabled and sick benefit recipients during the last three years for which records are available.

Nick Brown: Service credits for failure by the Department's medical services provider to meet contractual targets have been applied in each of the last three years. Precise details are commercial in confidence and are not disclosed under part 2, paragraph 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Pensions (Married Women)

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans his Department has to review the operation of pension entitlement for married women who have paid national insurance contributions at the reduced rate where no official advice was given as to the consequences of exercising this option.

Ian McCartney: In order to pay the reduced rate contribution, married women had to complete a form CF9 which was attached to leaflet NI1 (National Insurance for married women). This leaflet explained the consequences of the choice. In particular, it explained that the choice could affect future entitlement to benefit, including Retirement Pension. In addition, they had to sign a statement that they had read and understood the leaflet.
	The option to pay the reduced rate was withdrawn in 1977 but those who were already paying the reduced rate were allowed to continue to do so with the option to revoke it at any time. This was widely publicised. Following the restructuring of National Insurance contributions in 1989, the Department again ran a publicity campaign to inform married women paying the reduced rate contribution that they could be paying more in reduced rate contributions than if they paid the standard rate.
	This campaign also reminded them that they could revoke their option to pay the reduced rate. In October 2000, they were again advised, following changes to the structure of the National Insurance scheme, to reconsider their choice to pay the reduced rate contribution.
	We therefore have no plans to review the position.

Pension Benefits

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners are (a) eligible for and (b) in receipt of (i) state pensions, (ii) MIG, (iii) attendance allowance and (iv) winter fuel payments in (A) Perth constituency, (B) Scotland and (C) the rest of the UK.

Ian McCartney: Such information as is available is shown in the table using figures for England and Wales in place of the rest of the UK.
	
		Total Number of Pensioners in Receipt of: (i) State Pensions; (ii) MIG; (iii) Attendance Allowance; and (iv) Winter Fuel Payments
		
			 Benefit Perth (000s) Scotland (000s) England and Wales (000s) 
		
		
			 State Pension 16.0 911.7 9,344.4 
			 Minimum Income Guarantee 2.3 182.7 1,563.4 
			 Attendance Allowance 2.4 129.8 1,158.4 
			 Winter Fuel Payments 17.2 996.6 10,205.3 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures for State Pension, MIG and Attendance Allowance are based on 5 per cent. samples and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	2. Figures for Winter Fuel Payments are based on a 100 per cent. sample.
	3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and are expressed in thousands
	4. Parliamentary Constituencies have been assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.
	5. Figures for State Pension are for individuals of pension age.
	6. Figures for MIG are for benefit units where the man and/or woman are aged 60 and over.
	7. Figures for Attendance Allowance are for men and women aged 65 and over.
	8. Figures for Winter Fuel Payments are for men and women aged 60 and over.
	Sources:
	State Pension—Pensions Strategy Computer System, September 2001.
	Minimum Income Guarantee—Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, May 2002.
	Attendance Allowance—AA/DLA computer system, May 2002.
	Winter Fuel Payments—Matching Intelligence Data Analysis Service Winter Fuel Payment 2001/02 exercise.

Asylum Seekers (Disability Status)

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information he collates on the disability status of asylum seekers.

Maria Eagle: Since 3 April 2000, the Home Office, through the National Asylum Support Service, has been responsible for supporting and accommodating asylum seekers awaiting a determination of their case. Information on the number of those asylum seekers who report a health condition or disability is not collected centrally.
	Those asylum seekers in receipt of benefits prior to 3 April 2000 continue to be eligible to claim Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. Of the 8,700 asylum seekers receiving Income Support in May 2002 1 , 400 received a disability premium.
	Source:
	1 Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, May 2002.

Disability Living Allowance

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in how many cases where care and mobility needs have not changed the disability living allowance periodic inquiry has resulted in lower entitlement with reference to the results from the first two years of periodic inquiry.

Maria Eagle: In the first two years of periodic enquiry, 33091 customers had their benefit entitlement checked. Of these, 9192 resulted in a change of entitlement, of which 6803 (74 per cent.) had their awards increased and 2389 (26 per cent.) had their award decreased.
	Of the 9192 cases where entitlement changed, 2326 were due to factors other than a relevant change in their care or mobility needs, but it is not possible to say from the available data how many of these resulted in higher or lower awards of benefit.

National Insurance Numbers

Nick Gibb: To ask Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the procedures are for obtaining a national insurance number for adults who have entered the UK (a) legally, (b) illegally and (c) on claiming asylum

Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
	The National Insurance number (NINO) allocation process for persons from abroad is known as the Enhanced NINO Process and is administered by Jobcentre Plus. The process involves a rigorous face to face interview, scrutiny of supporting documentation, and corroborative checks made on the information provided prior to the allocation of a NINO. The process applies to all foreign nationals requiring a NINO. Anyone actively seeking work may apply for a NINO regardless of their immigration status. If during the allocation process suspicions are raised as to the legitimacy of an individual's right to be in the country, the case is referred to the Department's National Identity Fraud Unit for further action. Upon arrival in this country asylum seekers are initially supported by the Home Office National Asylum Support Service. Contact with this Department for the allocation of a NINO will therefore not normally take place until a decision has been made by the Home Office on the person's application for asylum. Once this has taken place (or if the person has been in the country for more than 6 months and is still awaiting a decision), an application for a NINO can be made through the Enhanced NINO Process.

PRIME MINISTER

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Prime Minister if he will direct HM Treasury to reply to the letters from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, which he sent the Department for response with regard to Ms E. Harding and Mrs. I. O'Neill.

Tony Blair: The Economic Secretary replied to the right hon. Member on 11 October in respect of Mrs. O'Neill. I understand that the Treasury is looking into the matter of Ms Harding's correspondence and will be contacting the right hon. Member shortly.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Bed-and-Breakfast Accommodation

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the amount spent by local authorities on bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless people in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Barbara Roche: Latest available information is published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) in their report ''Homelessness Statistics 2000–01 Actuals''. Total estimated expenditure by local authorities in each of the past five years, based on information supplied to CIPFA, was as follows:
	
		Local Authority Expenditure on Bed & Breakfast Provision: England
		
			  Gross Net 
			  #m #m 
		
		
			 1996–97 51,190,208 17,483,026 
			 1997–98 56,689,680 24,075,766 
			 1998–99 117,837,868 53,840,470 
			 1999–00 151,651,900 70,804,741 
			 2000–/01 178,222,459 80,466,675 
		
	
	Notes:
	B&B accommodation includes privately owned or managed hotels/guest houses with some shared facilities, but excludes hotel annexes of self-contained accommodation where meals are not provided.
	Expenditure excludes any apportionment of central or departmental administration. Net expenditure takes into account income arising from charges to clients, and housing benefit subsidy.
	Source:
	Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Homelessness Statistics—''Actuals'' annual reports.

Bed-and-Breakfast Accommodation

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the progress of the Bed and Breakfast Unit in reducing the number of homeless families with children living in bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

Tony McNulty: The most recent statistics on statutory homelessness showed that numbers of families with children in B&B at the end of June 2002 remained at around 6,700, the same as the equivalent figure for the end of March 2002.
	In March 2002 a #35 million programme was launched to help local authorities ensure that by March 2004 no homeless family with children is in a Bed and Breakfast hotel other than in an emergency, and even then for no more than 6 weeks. The Bed and Breakfast Unit has now funded the 44 authorities with the highest number of families with children in B&B to implement Bed and Breakfast Action Plans and will be monitoring progress closely.

Education Funding

Peter Luff: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to use the actual costs incurred by schools in delivering education to their pupils as the principal determinant of the distribution of funding to local education authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: Funding will be distributed to Local Education Authorities in 2003–04 on the basis of a per-pupil amount plus top-ups for additional educational needs and area costs. The per-pupil amount will be determined by deducting the top-ups from the overall sum available and our aim will be to judge the right balance between these elements.

Planning Policy

James Gray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when PPG7 was last redrafted; when he expects to publish the new draft of PPG7; and why a redraft of PPG7 is needed.

Tony McNulty: The current version of Planning Policy Guidance Note 7 (PPG7), The Countryside, was published in February 1997, although some aspects of the guidance have been updated since. PPG7 will be replaced by a new planning policy statement (PPS) in line with the proposals set out in last year's Planning Green Paper, Planning: delivering a fundamental change, and confirmed in our paper, Sustainable Communities—delivering through planning, published on 18 July. We expect to publish a draft PPS7 for public consultation in 2003.

Affordable Housing

Martin Linton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the use by Wandsworth Borough Council of section 106 agreements to require affordable housing on site by developers within the borough.

Tony McNulty: None. However, the Government takes its affordable housing policy as well as any available section 106 agreements into account as material considerations, in deciding whether planning applications should be called in for inquiry.

Local Government Act

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many individual applications he has received from local authorities under sections two and five of the Local Government Act 2000;
	(2)  how many individual applications from local authorities under sections two and five of the Local Government Act 2000 have been determined by his Department to date;
	(3)  what mechanisms his Department has in place for dealing with applications from local authorities under sections two and five of the Local Government Act 2000.

Nick Raynsford: We have received enquiries about possible use of section 5 Orders in respect of legislation that is the responsibility of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister from Camden, Shepway, Southampton and Watford. None of these enquiries have yet resulted in an Order being laid. In one case the request has been superseded by other de-regulatory measures.
	Procedures for applying for orders made under Section 5 of the Local Government Act 2000 are set out the guidance on the operation of the well being powers published in March 2001. Authorities are also able to discuss the potential use of Section 5 orders in the course of negotiating Local Public Service Agreements. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister considers any applications which relate to legislation for which it has responsibility and provides advice to other departments as necessary.

Milton Keynes and South Midlands

David Lidington: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he has taken to advertise the conclusions of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Regional Growth Study.

Nick Raynsford: During the Course of the study there have been a number of events to keep the relevant parties informed of progress. In addition a series of factsheets was published on the web sites of the regional planning bodies and the Government Office for the South East. The study report was launched by my right hon. Friend the Lord Rooker on 18 September 2002 at a conference of key stakeholders including representatives of local authorities, other Government agencies and community bodies including CPRE, education establishments and voluntary organisations. Copies of the summary report were distributed at the launch event and a copy of the full report has been sent to each organisation represented. All local MPs and local authorities have received a copy of the full report and it is available on the web site of the Government Office for the South East and those of the three regional planning bodies.

Milton Keynes and South Midlands

David Lidington: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what plans he has for public consultation about the recommendations of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Regional Growth Study;
	(2)  what plans he has to carry out a public examination of the conclusions of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Regional Growth Study.

Nick Raynsford: I understand that the regional planning bodies are currently considering how to take account of the conclusions of the study as part of the process of updating regional planning policy guidance.

Reoffending

Keith Bradley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he has taken to implement the recommendations relevant to his Department of the Social Exclusion Unit report ''Reducing Re-offending by Ex-prisoners.''

Barbara Roche: Responsibility for co-ordinating action to implement the recommendations of the Social Exclusion Unit report ''Reducing Re-offending by Ex-prisoners'' rests with the Home Office, where a new unit, the Adult Offenders Rehabilitation Unit has been set up. This unit will, in due course, produce an action plan detailing how the recommendations will be taken forward. The Social Exclusion Unit remains fully involved in monitoring and facilitating progress through its implementation team.

New Deal for Communities

Don Foster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how much public money has been used for the purposes of settlements and payments relating to (a) redundancy and (b) termination of contracts for employees of the New Deal for Communities in the last five years.

Barbara Roche: In the last five financial years, #4,000 of New Deal for Communities (NDC) grant has been used for the purpose of terminating contracts of employment. This occurred in year 2001–02, and was spent by the Clapham Park NDC in Lambeth. No NDC grant has been spent on payments relating to redundancy in the last five financial years.
	In total, #2 billion has been made available to the 39 NDC Partnerships over the 10 year lifetime of the programme. The individual Partnerships have grants of between #30m and #61m.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Focus Group Research

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what use he and his Department has made of focus group research since June 2001; if he will identify for each research project the topics covered, the person or organisation carrying out the research, and the total cost; and if he will publish the research on his Department's website.

Denis MacShane: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made use of focus group research on two occasions since June 2001.
	In March 2002, we commissioned a research paper on ''Community Perceptions of Forced Marriage''. It looks at the perceptions of forced marriage held by British Bangladeshis and Pakistanis of different generations and social backgrounds. We paid Professor Yunas Samad (University of Bradford) and Professor John Eade (University of Roehampton) a total of #30,000. They made extensive use of focus groups in Bradford and Tower Hamlets. The results of the research will be published on 12 November 2002. The paper will be available in hard copy and on the FCO website.
	Separately, in July 2002, ICM Research carried out four focus groups for the FCO on attitudes to Britain's membership of the European Union. The total cost was #10,575. The exercise formed part of an FCO internal research project and the participants were informed that their contributions would be treated in confidence. The results will therefore not be published.

Guyana

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department has met with political party leaders in Guyana recently to discuss the political situation there.

Mike O'Brien: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) regularly engages with Guynanese politicians about the political situation in Guyana. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met President Jagdeo and the leader of the oppostition, Desmond Hoyte, in Guyana in April this year to discuss the political situation. My noble Friend Baroness Amos met President Jagdeo in April and May, and, again, most recently during his visit to London in September. We keep in close contact with Guyanese politicians through our High Commissioner in Georgetown.

Sudan

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in negotiating the allocation and distribution of oil revenues in the peace talks between the Government of Sudan and the SPLM.

Denis MacShane: The Sudanese parties, mediators and observers at the peace talks have agreed that all briefing on the substance of the talks should be done by the Kenyan Special Envoy, Lt General Lazaro Sumbeiywo. We are therefore unable to comment on the progress of the discussions on wealth sharing.

Child Abduction

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many children were abducted from the UK in October.

Denis MacShane: The total number of children reported as abducted from the United Kingdom in the period 1–17 October is three.

Immigration

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason the British Embassy in Cairo is no longer accepting applications for family reunion from Somali nationals.

Denis MacShane: The designated entry clearance posts for Somali nationals are Nairobi and Addis Ababa. Cairo does accept applications from Somali nationals for family reunion, but only from those who can show they are resident in Egypt.

Public Bodies

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people are employed by the (a) Government Hospitality Fund Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine and (b) Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment; what their roles and terms of reference are; and what their annual budget for each year since 1997–98 was and their projected budget for the coming year.

Denis MacShane: The Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine does not employ personnel. The Committee is composed of four appointed Masters of Wine and a Chairman who give their time without remuneration. A civil servant from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office acts as Secretary to the Committee. The roles of members of the Committee and terms of reference are defined in its Annual Reports, available in the library of the House. The Committee is advisory and holds no budget.
	The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) is within the remit of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. However, I understand that there are 36 people currently employed by CABE. Their roles are detailed in CABE's Annual Report and Accounts 2001–02 which is in the libraries of both Houses. CABE does not have formal terms of reference but its vision and objectives are set out in its Annual Report.
	CABE was established in 1999 and its annual budget since then has been:
	1999–2000: #3,330,000
	2000–2001: #1,530,000
	2001–2002: #1,538,000
	2002–2003: #3,500,000
	Projected Budget for 2003–4 is #3,500,000.

Public Bodies

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the performance of the (a) Government Hospitality Fund Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine and (b) Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment; what performance targets he has set; what reports were published on their performance in the last three years; and if he will place copies in the Library.

Denis MacShane: The Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine is an advisory Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB). Its members give their time voluntarily and meet only on four half days each year. Members are bound by the Terms of Reference of the Committee, against which they have and continue to deliver the highest quality advice on wines and cellar-management. The terms of reference of the Committee are included in the annual report of the Committee, copies of which have been placed in the Library.
	The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) is within the remit of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport but the FCO collaborates closely with it. However, I understand that the Secretary of State reviews CABE's performance through the following review meetings:
	January/February: Ministerial endorsement and signing of funding agreement
	May/June: Review of performance in previous financial year
	November/December: Mid-year review of performance.
	CABE published an Annual Report and Accounts for 2000–01 and 2001–02, copies of which have been placed in the libraries of both Houses.

Indonesia

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what new action he plans to take to protect the interests of UK citizens who are in detention in Indonesia.

Denis MacShane: There are currently 7 British citizens detained in Indonesia. Consular staff will continue to provide all possible consular assistance to the detainees and to monitor the situation to ensure their continued safety.

International Fund for Animal Welfare

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received from the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Denis MacShane: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) leads on environment issues. All recent representations from IFAW have been passed to Defra for action.

Zimbabwe

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent changes there have been to European Union sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Peter Hain: With the support of Her Majesty's Government, the Council of the European Union adopted Common Position 2002/600/CFSP on 22 July 2002 extending the list of individuals subject to an EU travel ban and asset freeze from 20 to 72. The extension highlights the collective responsibility borne by the ruling Zanu-PF elite for the continued deterioration in the situation in Zimbabwe. The Council subsequently adopted Decision 2002/754/CFSP on 13 September extending to 79 the list of individuals subject to the measures to take account of changes to the Zimbabwean Government announced on 26 August 2002.

Somalia and Angola

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent changes there have been to the United Nations sanctions against (a) Somalia and (b) Angola (UNITA).

Peter Hain: (a) With the support of HMG the United Nations Security Council on 22 July 2002 adopted resolution 1425 (2002) consolidating and strengthening the arms embargo against Somalia. In addition to arms the embargo now also applies to the direct or indirect supply to Somalia of technical advice, financial and other assistance, and training related to military activities. The resolution reflects the ongoing threat to peace security caused by the conflict in Somalia.
	(b) On 15 August the United Nations Security Council, with HMG's support, adopted resolution 1432 (2002). The resolution suspends for a further ninety days the travel ban on designated members of UNITA, established pursuant to resolution 1127 (1997). The suspension of the travel ban will allow UNITA officials to participate fully in the peace process.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library copies of all (a) reports produced by and (b) communications with The United Nations Inspection Body for Iraq, since the end of 1998.

Denis MacShane: UNMOVIC's reports are available on the UNMOVIC website (http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/index.htm).
	The Government has been in routine contact with UNMOVIC over the organisation of the advanced training courses for UNMOVIC inspectors which it has funded. Officials also have regular contact with staff of UNMOVIC in New York, as we do with other UN organisations. The Director-General of UNMOVIC Dr. Hans Blix has visited the UK on a number of occasions since UNMOVIC was established, and has held discussions with officials and Ministers. The content of such exchanges is confidential. (Code of Practice on access to Government Information Part 2 Exemption1a, information whose disclosure would harm national security or defence). Although Dr. Blix has made himself available for media interviews and meetings.

Iraq

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what goods on the Military List have recently been approved for export to Iraq.

Denis MacShane: Following consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Industry recently approved a licence to export laboratory equipment to UNESCO for use by the Suleymaniyah Technical Institute in Northern Iraq. The export included potassium cyanide and hydrofluoric acid which are subject to the Dual-Use Items (Export Control) Regulations 2000 as amended. HMG is confident that there is no proliferation threat associated with this export.
	The UN Iraq Sanctions Committee approved this export to Iraq under the Oil for Food programme (OFF). Under OFF Iraq is allowed to export unlimited quantities of oil to fund the purchase of humanitarian goods. The export is consistent with the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria.

HEALTH

Specialised Services Commissioning

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the results and conclusions of the consultation on Specialised Services Commissioning by PCTs and strategic health authorities will be made available.

John Hutton: Responses to the consultation on commissioning arrangements for specialised services are still coming in. I will be considering the responses and expect to reach conclusions on the way forward by the turn of the year.

Cancer Care

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many cancer consultants there are (a) with the NHS and (b) broken down by health authority; and what the figures were for each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many (a) lung, (b) breast, (c) prostate, (d) ovarian and (e) leukaemia cancer specialists there are within the NHS; and what the figures were for each year since 1997.

John Hutton: Information on the number of lung, breast, prostate, ovarian and leukaemia cancer specialists within the National Health Service is not collected centrally.
	The Department collects data on the number of consultants within medical oncology, clinical oncology, histopathology, clinical radiology, haematology and palliative medicine. Collectively, these are referred to as the cancer specialties.
	Data relating to the total number of cancer specialist consultants in England and by Strategic Health Authority are shown in the following table.
	
		Hospital Medical Consultants in the Cancer Specialties by Strategic Health Authority each Year(1) -- numbers(headcount)
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 March 2002(1) 
		
		
			 England 3,160 3,270 3,360 3,530 3,720 3,860 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire 130 140 130 150 170 190 
			 Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire 90 100 90 90 90 100 
			 Birmingham & The Black Country 150 150 160 160 180 180 
			 Cheshire & Merseyside 170 180 190 200 200 210 
			 Country Durham & Tees Valley 60 70 70 70 70 70 
			 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire 90 90 100 90 100 100 
			 Cumbria & Lancashire 100 110 110 110 110 100 
			 Dorset & Somerset 70 70 70 80 80 80 
			 Essex 70 70 70 70 80 80 
			 Greater Manchester 210 200 210 210 220 230 
			 Hampshire & Isle of Wight 110 120 120 130 150 160 
			 Kent & Medway 80 80 80 90 90 90 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland 80 80 90 90 100 100 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk & Cambridgeshire 160 170 180 190 190 200 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 80 90 100 90 110 110 
			 North Central London 150 160 170 150 170 180 
			 North East London 70 70 80 80 110 120 
			 North West London 210 200 190 230 230 240 
			 Northumberland, Tyne & Wear 120 130 120 130 150 150 
			 Shropshire & Staffordshire 70 70 70 80 80 80 
			 South East London 130 140 140 140 170 170 
			 South West London 70 90 100 100 110 110 
			 South West Peninsula 90 80 80 100 100 110 
			 South Yorkshire 90 90 100 110 110 110 
			 Surrey & Sussex 150 150 140 150 150 160 
			 Thames Valley 150 150 160 170 170 190 
			 Trent 150 160 160 170 150 150 
			 West Yorkshire 170 170 180 170 180 190 
			 Special Hospitals * — — — — — 
			 National Blood authority — 20 40 40 40 40 
		
	
	Notes:
	(1) Data for 1997 to 2001 is at 30 September, 2002 data is at 31 March.
	''*'' denotes five or less than five
	''—'' denotes zero
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 10
	Source:
	Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.
	The number of cancer specialists employed in the NHS is growing. As at March 2002, there were 3,860 cancer specialists (rounded to the nearest 10). This represents an increase of 22 per cent. since September 1997.

Medical Degrees

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the funding available for medical related degrees.

John Hutton: The service increment for teaching reimburses National Health Service organisations the additional costs they incur as result of providing a clinical setting for medical and dental undergraduate students' training. #585 million was made available for this in 2002–03 and included additional funds to support increased numbers of medical and dental students. Between 1999 and 2001 the higher education funding council (HEFCE) allocated 57 per cent. more medical school places to higher education institutions in England. Actual training costs are met by HEFCE, which is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills.

Residential Care Homes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the (a) number of residential care homes that have closed and (b) number of residential care home beds lost in Torbay in each of the past five years for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: Information on the number of residential care homes that have closed and care home beds lost is not centrally available.
	The number of residential care homes and care home beds in Torbay Unitary Authority is shown in the table at 31 March for the years 1999 to 2001. Data for 2002 are not yet available.
	
		Number of Residential Care Homes and Care Home beds in Torbay Unitary Authority at 31 March, 1999 to 2001
		
			 As at 31 March Care homes Care home beds 
		
		
			 1999 205 2,850 
			 2000 195 2,825 
			 2001 190 2,705

Residential Care Homes

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) private and (b) local authority care homes for the elderly have (i) opened and (ii) closed in each year since 1997 in (A) England and (B) West Sussex.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not held centrally. The table below shows the number of registered and local authority residential care homes for the elderly in England and West Sussex for the years 1997 to 2001.
	
		Number of Registered and Local Authority Residential Care Homes for the Elderly(2) at 31 March, 1997 to 2001
		
			 At 31 March Registered care homes(3) Local authority care homes 
			  England West Sussex England West Sussex 
		
		
			 1997 11,340 315 1,500 25 
			 1998 10,740 305 1,465 20 
			 1999 10,450 290 1,355 20 
			 2000 9,845 275 1,270 20 
			 2001 9,345 275 1,190 15 
		
	
	Notes:
	(2) Elderly includes all older people aged 65 or more and older mentally infirm people
	(3) Registered homes includes voluntary, private and small homes.
	(4) Data is rounded to the nearest 5.
	Data on nursing homes does not distinguish age of client. The table below shows the total number of private general and mental nursing homes in England and West Sussex for the years 1997 to 2001. There are no local authority nursing homes.
	
		Number of Registered Nursing Care Homes(6) at 31 March, 1997 to 2001
		
			 At 31 March England West Sussex 
		
		
			 1997 5,570 .. 
			 1998 5,785 175 
			 1999 5,690 170 
			 2000 5,440 150 
			 2001 5,215 140 
		
	
	Notes:
	(5) ''..'' indicates data is not available.
	(6) Nursing homes includes general and mental nursing homes.
	(7) Data is rounded to the nearest 5.

Residential Care Homes

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many places in care homes for the elderly there were in West Sussex in each year since 1997.

Jacqui Smith: The number of residential and nursing care home places for the elderly in West Sussex is shown in the table at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001. Data for 2002 is not yet available.
	
		Number of Residential and Nursing(8) Care Home Places for the Elderly in West Sussex(9) at 31 March, 1997 to 2001
		
			 As at 31 March Residential Nursing All homes 
		
		
			 1997 5,795 .. .. 
			 1998 5,530 .. .. 
			 1999 5,435 .. .. 
			 2000 5,345 4,100 9,445 
			 2001 5,435 3,915 9,355 
		
	
	Notes:
	(8) ''..'' indicates data are not available.
	(9) The breakdown of the number of nursing beds for the elderly was not provided by the Health Authority for the years 1997 to 1999.
	(10) Residential data refer to West Sussex County; nursing data refer to West Sussex Health Authority.

Mental Health Services

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to ensure that psychiatric patients in the community take their medicines.

Jacqui Smith: Development of robust community-based mental health provision is the key to ensuring that patients adhere to their care plans.
	The NHS Plan pledged to establish a total of 220 assertive outreach teams by December 2003. There are 180 teams in operation at present. These teams provide services to people with a mental illness in the community who have difficulty engaging with mainstream mental health services.
	Another NHS Plan initiative is to create crisis resolution teams which provide intensive support for people in a mental health crisis in their own homes. These teams are designed to offer prompt and effective home treatment, including medication, in order to prevent hospital admissions. A total of 335 crisis resolution teams will be established by 2004 when all people in contact with specialist mental health services will be able to access crisis resolution teams at any time.
	Although, community-based teams can support and encourage patients to adhere to their care plans, they currently cannot compel them to do so. The draft Mental Health Bill contains proposals so that patients who meet the criteria for treatment under compulsion might remain at home, supported by an outreach service, rather than having to be detained in hospital. Patients will not be forcibly treated in their own homes. These patients will be subject to conditions authorised by the independent mental health tribunal to ensure that they comply with their individual care plan, including where necessary taking medication.

NHS Hospital Trusts

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the English hospital trusts that fall under two or more PCTs.

John Hutton: Primary care trusts (PCTs) have the freedom to commission services from wherever they can to obtain the best services for their patients. It is likely that the majority of National Health Service trust hospitals have more than one PCT that commissions care from them, although the precise figures are not collected centrally.

Surgeons

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the new pay and conditions package will encourage surgeons to increase the number of operations that they carry out for the NHS.

John Hutton: The proposed new consultant contract is designed to provide a much more effective system of planning and time-tabling consultants' duties and responsibilities for the National Health Service in ways that best meet local service needs and priorities. Under the proposed arrangements, full-time consultants will typically devote at least seven out of a total of ten weekly programmed activities to direct clinical care. The new contract will also facilitate arranging extra consultant activity on a more planned and efficient basis.

ME

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department categorises ME as a neurological illness.

Jacqui Smith: The Department does not have its own system for categorising conditions such as myalgic encephalomyelitis in this way. However, it employs the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Benign myalgic encephalomyelitis appears in the current version, ICD–10, as a neurological illness.

ME

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he gives to general practitioners about ME.

Jacqui Smith: Action on ME, a voluntary group active in this area, has recently produced guidance on the management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). We have brought this guidance to the attention of National Health Service chief executives through the CE Bulletin; and will be making reference to in the next issue of the GP Bulletin.
	The CFS/ME independent working group's report, which was published on 11 January 2002, has been placed on the Chief Medical Officer's web-site, so that it can be accessed by all interested parties including general practitioners.

ME

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many specialist centres for ME there are in the UK;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the care of people with ME in the community.

Jacqui Smith: Information on local service configuration for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is not held centrally.
	Most cases of CFS/ME are managed in the community although general practitioners can refer patients for specialist opinion and advice where appropriate.
	ME is mainly managed in primary care. It is the responsibility of local primary care trusts to commission services for their local populations including those suffering from CFS/ME.

Compulsory Treatment

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment his Department has made of the social and psychological effects on patients of compulsory treatment for (a) 72 hours, (b) 28 days and (c) a longer period.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has not recently made an assessment. The social services inspectorate's report Detained focused on the quality of service experienced by detained patients generally and in particular, the approved social worker's role. It was published in February 2001.

NHS University

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the proposed NHS University.

John Hutton: Professor Bob Fryer CBE was appointed as Chief Executive of NHSU and Vice Chancellor designate of the proposed NHS University in February 2002. NHSU is the body that has been set-up to prepare the establishment of a university for the National Health Service.
	NHSU is currently finalising a development plan for the NHSU setting out the vision for the university, as the basis for an extensive consultation exercise with the NHS and its partners, between November 2002 and January 2003. The plan will be widely distributed and a number of consultation events will be organised jointly with NHS workforce development confederations around the country.
	The NHSU will begin to work later next year.

Wythenshawe Hospital

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason Wythenshawe Hospital scheduled an operation on Mr. S. Ford of Warrington at a time when the relevant consultant was known to be away; how many times this has happened to other patients in the last year; and what procedures will be put in place to prevent such occurences in the future.

Jacqui Smith: There was a breakdown in communication within the cardiac waiting list department. This was the first and only time such an incident has occurred. Staff have been reminded of the importance of informing the cardiac waiting list department in the event that a consultant is not available to cover the trans-oesophageal echo list.

Wythenshawe Hospital

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ask the Commission for Health Improvement to investigate (a) the procedures in place for monitoring the number of times patients have operations cancelled at Wythenshawe Hospital, (b) the procedures which are involved when the hospital cancels a patient's surgery more than once and (c) the system used for ensuring patients are notified of a new date for surgery within 28 days.

Jacqui Smith: The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) has power to undertake special investigations into particular areas of concern in the delivery of health care. The Commission considers all such requests against six guiding principles which are set out in its, Policy on assessing requests for investigations and fast track clinical governance reviews, copies of which are available in the Library and on its website at www.chi.nhs.uk. These principles include situations where there has been an incident of great severity, where there is evidence of repeated service failure and where action by CHI could result in lessons for the whole of the National Health Service.

Waiting Lists

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been waiting more than (a) three (b) six (c) nine (d) 12 (e) 18 and (f) 24 months between (i) referral by a GP for a diagnostic test and (ii) referral by a consultant for a diagnostic test; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Information is not collected centrally on the number of patients waiting for diagnostic tests. The length of time that a patient may have to wait for any diagnostic test is dependent on their clinical condition. Emergency cases need to be seen immediately. Other cases will be carried out as quickly as possible, however this is dependent on the clinical priority of all remaining patients waiting to have diagnostic tests.
	The NHS Cancer Plan set new targets to shorten the time patients have to wait for diagnosis and treatment. The first step in reducing cancer waiting times was the introduction of the two week waiting time standard form urgent general practitioner referral to outpatient appointment for cases of suspected breast cancer from April 1999. The two week standard was extended to all other urgent cases of suspected cancer during 2000. By 2005 there will be a maximum two month wait from urgent general practitioner referral to treatment for all cancers.
	We are making unprecedented investment in the provision of new and replacement diagnostic equipment, improving the recruitment and retention of staff and streamlining the way care is delivered through the cancer services collaborative.

Waiting Lists

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish guidance from his Department to NHS trusts and health authorities on the speed of processing of patients onto (a) inpatient and (b) outpatient waiting lists following (i) GP and (ii) consultant referral; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: All guidance to the National Health Service is published in the NHS data dictionary/manual. This covers the relevant information on when a patient should appear on a waiting list and how a waiting time should be recorded.
	Patients are added to the inpatient elective admission list at the time there is a decision to admit the patient and the waiting time is calculated from that date. For first outpatient appointments the waiting time is calculated from the date the NHS trust receives the referral, except where a patient as been referred under the urgent cancer referral route, then the waiting time is calculated from the date the general practitioner decided to refer.

Waiting Lists

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether endoscopy tests are included in the waiting list figures for (a) inpatients and (b) outpatients; what guidance has been issued to hospital trusts and health authorities about exclusion of endoscopies from waiting list statistics over the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Data on waiting times for consultant led inpatient elective admissions and consultant led first outpatient appointments, following a general practitioner referral, are collected on the consultant's main specialty not by procedure. Endoscopies can be recorded as either inpatients or outpatients depending on the setting in which the endoscope takes place. Guidance to this effect is available on the Department's web-site, at www.doh.gov.uk/waitingtimes/frequentlyaskedquestions.

Waiting Lists

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, for each English health authority and trust, the number of patients who have been waiting for more than six months to see a consultant, after having been referred by a consultant; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answer 23 October 2002
	Data on consultant to consultant referrals are not centrally collected. Data on first general practitioner referrals to consultants are collected and published on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/waitingtimes.

Waiting Lists

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the length of the waiting lists for neurophysiology treatment in English hospitals.

John Hutton: holding answer 23 October 2002
	The outpatient target, to have no over 26 week waiters following first outpatient appointment from a general practitioner referral by March 2002, was achieved for the specialty clinical neuro-physiology.
	In 2002–3 the National Health Service is working to reduce maximum waiting times for first outpatient appointments from a GP referral from 26 weeks to 21 weeks.

Waiting Lists

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were waiting more than (a) six months and (b) 12 months as (i) in-patients and (ii) out-patients in England as at (A) 31 March 1997 and (B) the latest date for which information is available; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answer 23 October 2002
	The tables below show the number of patients still waiting for elective admission and a consultant outpatient appointment by length of time waiting at 31 March 1997 and the latest available date. Data are not collected on patients waiting over 12 months for a consultant outpatient appointment.
	
		Patients Waiting for Elective Admission: England -- (Responsible population based)
		
			  Patients waiting 
			 Month end over 6 months over 12 months 
		
		
			 Mar–97 283,866 30,245 
			 Aug–02 250,794 18,234 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health form QF01
	
		Patients Waiting for First Consultant Outpatient Appointment Following GP Referral: NHS Trusts in England
		
			 Month end Patients waiting over 26 weeks 
		
		
			 Mar–97 70,689 
			 Jun–02 1,145 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health form QM08

Criminal Record Bureau

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff have been employed in care homes before the Criminal Record Bureau checks have been completed; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 23 October 2002
	This information is not collected by the Department or by the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC), which is responsible for registering and inspecting all care homes in England.
	A new recruit's employment in a care home cannot be made permanent until satisfactory Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks have been completed. However, the NCSC is sympathetic to problems caused for providers by delays at the CRB in processing checks on new members of staff and it has published guidance to care home providers. The intention of the guidance is to enable providers to employ new members of staff before the completion of CRB checks provided the new recruit has applied for a CRB disclosure; that other checks into their background have been satisfactorily completed; and they are assigned to and supervised by, an established member of staff, pending satisfactory completion of the CRB check.

Adoption

Ann Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many married couples seeking to adopt children (a) have not yet been assessed for suitability and (b) have been assessed as suitable, but have not yet adopted a child.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Correspondence

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the hon. Member for Spelthorne will receive a reply to his inquiries of the Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust of 5 March on behalf of Mr. T Dartnell, a constituent, about his late wife.

David Lammy: holding answer 15 October 2002
	The Department has no record of receiving this correspondence. The Department's Ministerial Correspondence Unit has requested a duplicate.

General Practitioners

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many former GPs have applied for the #10,000 welcome back initiative.

John Hutton: holding answer 21 October 2002
	It was announced on 24 September 2002 that the National Health Service general practitioner Golden Hello scheme would be extended to GPs returning to general practice. Details of how the scheme will be extended are currently being discussed with the profession. We expect to be able to launch the scheme this autumn, subject to the conclusion of these discussions. Payments will be backdated to 24 September.

General Practitioners

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP surgeries in England and Wales have (a) opened and (b) closed in each of the last five years.

John Hutton: holding answer 21 October 2002
	The information requested for England is not collected centrally. Questions relating to Wales are now matters for the devolved administration.

Primary Care Trusts

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the chief executives and chairmen of PCT's in England and Wales, and their respective remuneration.

John Hutton: Information on the salaries of individual primary care trust chief executives is not available centrally.
	PCTs are required to disclose in their published accounts details of the remuneration of senior managers including the chief executive. Individuals may decline to give their consent to have this information published relying on the Data Protection Act 1998. In this case their decision to withhold the information should be disclosed in the published accounts.
	Salaries of primary care trust chief executives range from #78,625 to #107,500, however, in exceptional cases the figures paid may be lower or higher. A copy of the framework used to determine the salaries for primary care trust chief executives in 2002/2003 has been placed in the Library.
	The remuneration of chairs of primary care trusts in England is determined centrally. Chairs are paid at one of three levels—Band 1—#20,420; Band 2—#18,154; Band 3—#16,017. Details of the bandings for 2002–2003 have been placed in the Library.
	A list of primary care trust chief executives and chairs will be placed in the Library.
	Information in respect of health bodies in Wales should be sought from the National Assembly for Wales.

Overseas Nurses

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls the NHS Overseas Nurses Advice Line has received since it was established.

John Hutton: holding answer 21 October 2002
	Since the NHS overseas nurses' advice line was established it has received 13 calls requesting advice.

Adrenoleukodystrophy

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people in England who have been diagnosed as having the adrenoleukodystrophy gene are being treated with Lorenzo's oil;
	(2)  how many people in England have adrenoleukodystrophy.

Jacqui Smith: holding answers 21 October 2002
	The information requested is not collected centrally.

Working Time Directive

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is undertaking to ensure that the Working Time Directive is implemented for all NHS and social care staff.

John Hutton: holding answer 22 October 2002
	The European Working Time Directive (EWTD) currently applies to all health and social care staff, with the exception of doctors in training.
	The Department issued guidance in Health Service Circular 1998/204, Working Time Regulations—Implementation in the NHS. It is for local National Health Service employers, within the guidelines issued by the Department, to conform to the legislation as an individual employer. In relation to the social care workforce, individual employers in the statutory, private and voluntary sectors are also required to conform to current legislation, assuming their responsibility as the employer.
	Doctors in training will come under the EWTD from August 2004, which will be introduced in stages with an initial maximum requirement of 58 hours reducing to 48 by 2009. The Department will be issuing guidance on implementation this autumn and is working with stakeholders including the medical Royal Colleges, British Medical Association, NHS Confederation and the service to ensure that effective solutions are developed. The Department is also funding a programme of pilot projects based in NHS trusts to develop and test innovative solutions to EWTD implementation. Full details of the pilot programme will be announced when the guidance is issued.

Health and Social Care Act

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many re-assessments of entitlement to free continuing care his Department predicts as a result of implementation of section 49 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 regarding the effect on entitlement to free continuing care;
	(2)  what representations his Department has received on the implementation of section 49 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 regarding the effect on entitlement to free continuing care.

Jacqui Smith: holding answers 22 October 2002
	The implementation of section 49 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 relates to National Health Service funded nursing care, not free continuing care. The guidance states that patients should have their need for registered nursing care reviewed and re-assessed three months after their placement in a nursing home; at least annually thereafter, or when there is a significant change in their condition. Entitlement to local NHS continuing health care criteria is the first consideration in any assessment by NHS nurses. I have received several representations in relation to the implementation of section 49.

Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Lancashire and South Cumbria Strategic Health Authority received details of the proposed further distribution of additional CT scanners for their area of responsibility.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 22 October 2002
	Officials in the Department wrote to the chief executives of the strategic health authorities on 2 September 2002, requesting details of priority candidates for the proposed allocations of additional commuted tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners. The chief executive of the Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority was included in this exercise together with all of the relevant leads from the cancer networks.